


Sold (With Furniture)

by Polkadotdotdot



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Death, Devoted Reylo, F/M, Ghost Rey, Ghost Smut, Ghosts, HEA, Haunting, Mentions of Violence, Past Rape/Non-con, Remember it's a ghost story....ghost, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo angst, Reylo fluff, Sex, Smut, Star Wars AU, Supernatural Elements, That's a very exact tag, modern reylo, read notes please, reylo au, that's a thing now, trigger warning, where did all this angst come from
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-04 09:23:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16344143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polkadotdotdot/pseuds/Polkadotdotdot
Summary: Ben Solo never expects to get such a good apartment in Brooklyn Heights so cheap. It has everything from large bay windows with beautiful views of the bridge to the original hardwood floors. It even comes with all its furniture from the previous owner.There’s also a small matter of a very stubborn ghost by the name of Rey...





	1. Roommate (not) wanted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KyloTrashForever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyloTrashForever/gifts).



> Since it's October and I'm getting in the spirit, this little story idea fell into my head. I can't promise the chapter count won't change...I have no self-control but I DO have a plan!
> 
> Please note that while it's going to have humor, it will also contain angst. Any triggering elements will be tagged and pointed out clearly in the notes for those who wish to avoid :)
> 
> This fic is gifted to KyloTrashForever because she's a wonderful human who writes amazing stories and loves the spoopy stuff!
> 
> PD3 x

[](https://imgur.com/hWp7BQ1)

He couldn’t believe his luck.

It had been by chance he’d been scanning the listings for a new apartment, deciding that it was high time he picked himself up from his slump, moving to an up-market area of New York City when it appeared. The beautiful apartment was on the corner of Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights. Near the top floor, the large tenement had been recently remodeled while keeping the best of the original features.

Large windows gave him beautiful views over the water and of the Brooklyn Bridge. The original wooden floors were polished to perfection. It was somehow modern and bohemian at the same time, cozy and comforting. It was everything a home should be.

Best of all, due to a sudden vacation, it was a steal at half the price it rightly should have been.

Curiously, he wondered why anyone would have given up such a home in a hurry, much less selling it complete with furniture. It was a mash of classic pieces and quirky knick-knacks, but still, it barely gave Ben a clue as to who the previous owner had been. It didn’t matter. Since the belongings were included in the price, he would keep what might have been useful and donate the rest.

This was to be his fresh start, something his therapist told him he needed badly. A safe space to clear his mind of distractions, to work on his intimacy issues. Or so Doctor Andor said. First, he would get the apartment, settle himself into a routine working between home and his office at the New York Times.

Since his divorce, the office had become his haven. It was seemingly the only place Bazine, or should he say her shark of a lawyer, was unable to contact him and that was simply because he had put them both on the no-contact list for the building. His Mother had warned him time and time again that the woman was nothing more than a gold digger, someone who would up and leave the second she was bored of him.

They had married after barely 9 months of dating, a move that Leia Organa proclaimed he was doing out of spite simply to break her heart. The joke was clearly on him when Bazine had proven his Mother right.

Thank God for ironclad prenups.

However, in that prenup, he had agreed that the reptile of a woman would get their home on the upper east side as compensation. 3 months of sofa surfing and on his therapist’s advice, Ben was finally making moves.

The furniture he didn’t require or want was removed, his own carried in and sitting there in his new apartment, surrounded by boxes, the faint sounds of the city outside of his windows, Ben had never felt so at peace.

00000

A few days of unpacking and the place was his own.

Degrees and various prints of notable articles he had written were hung on the walls, his coffee machine sat proudly on the beautiful granite worktops of the kitchen and already he’d made the effort to introduce himself to a few of his new neighbors and the super who looked after the building.

A tremendous step for someone as antisocial as himself, or so said Doctor Andor.

Yawning widely, Ben stretched on his leather sofa, rolling his neck as he checked the time. Midnight. Considering his diary, knowing he had a full day of research and writing ahead of him, sleep seemed like an attractive option. Wandering to his hall he locked the door, turning the deadbolt and slipping the security chain across.

Changing into his sleep pants, he slid between the fresh sheets of his king size bed, sighing happily and completely relaxed. Andor was right, a fresh start was good for him. Already he could feel the tension draining from his body, his new surroundings soothing his ragged mind.

“Who the hell are you!?”

A voice.

There was a voice in his new apartment.

Eyes flying open, Ben sat bolt upright in panic, his chest heaving wildly as he stared at the direction the voice came from. There, standing at the end of the bed was a woman. She looked young, maybe no more than 25 with long chestnut waved hair and hazel eyes that burned with indignant anger, her brows knitted, and her mouth twisted in a scowl. Wearing only a white tee shirt and blue jeans, she stared at him intensely like _he_ was the oddity in the situation.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Ben shouted, “How did you get in here?!” He’d locked the door. All three locks, hadn’t he?

“I should ask _you_ the same question!” The girl cried, Ben noticing that her accent was, in fact, English and not American, “This is my apartment!”

Ben blinked dumbly. _Her_ apartment?

“Uh, No. I think you’ll find this is my place, I just moved in a few days ago!” he snapped, “Whoever the hell you are, you’re trespassing and I’m going to ask you to leave before I call the cops!”

She didn’t seem dangerous per say, just very confused. Had it been a guy he wouldn’t have hesitated to grab the intruder and physically launch him out of the door…but this girl, she was so incensed, so sure that _he_ was the one in the wrong despite the fact he was lying in his own bed.

“Listen here! This has been my place for years and I’ll prove it to you,” she huffed, stomping her feet as she stormed from his bedroom, Ben scrambling out from between the sheets to follow her.

“Hey, you can’t just go walking around my place…”

“It’s not _your_ place, it’s mine!” she hissed, abruptly stopping as she entered the living room, “Wha…where is all my furniture? My…my books, my things?!”

“I told you…this is my place!” Ben muttered in irritation.

 He really had a long day tomorrow and this small, British woman was becoming more and more of an inconvenience. Perhaps she was ill? Maybe someone was looking after her and she’d somehow become lost and confused. She didn’t seem to have any belongings with her. Willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, his face softened.

“Listen, Miss, I don’t know what’s wrong with you…”

“There’s _nothing_ wrong with me!”

“but clearly you’re mistaken. You’re confused, you’ve ended up in the wrong place…is there someone I can call for you? Even just get you a cab?” The girl’s scowl deepened as if completely offended by the idea that she was the one perplexed.

“How dare you! You come into my apartment, steal my things and you’re telling me I’m confused!” she yelled, “I’m going to give you one minute to get your damn clothes on and get the fuck out!”

The laugh that bubbled up from his chest was unbidden, almost arrogant and it did nothing for the girl’s mood as she crossed her arms tightly, tapping her toe impatiently.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Leave!” she spat. Ben glowered, his jaw clenching in irritation. He had tried to be nice. Tried to be understanding and look at the situation another way but this girl was a trespasser in his house and now he was starting to lose his patience.

“Alright! I’ve had enough of this, I’ve been going through some shit and I don’t need someone coming in here and wrecking my damn calm. If anyone is going it’s going to be you!” he snapped, reaching forward to grab for her shoulder, intent on turning her around and marching her towards the door.

Only he didn’t grab her shoulder.

He didn’t grab anything.

Tangible as smoke, his hand passed straight through the girl feeling nothing but cool air against his skin. Both stood frozen, staring at the hand that should have been resting on her shoulder, now trembling between them.

“But…I…what happened?” the girl stammered, her eyes wide and confused. Suddenly she patted herself down, her own hands landing on her body, solid and real. Swiping his hand, he attempted to grab her again, his arm passing straight through and swinging around his own body.

“Oh God. Okay…fuck…shit…” he stammered, stepping back from her quickly as if she would scald him, turning quickly and wobbling to the kitchen on shaky legs.

“This is…hey! Where are you going?!” she called after him.

Frantically he rifled through his cupboards, grabbing the bottle of Johnny Walker black he found and pulling off the cap, throwing his head back as he took a long swig from the bottle.

“Y…you’re not real…you’re not here,” he mumbled, the raw scotch burning his throat, “Oh my God, it’s happened. I’ve finally cracked. Stress…it’s stress…has to be…” Steeling himself, he took another long drink directly from the bottle, turning back to where she stood.

Only the girl was gone, and he was alone, standing in his kitchen at midnight with an open bottle of scotch.

00000

“You sounded very upset on the phone last night, Ben,” Doctor Andor said, watching his patient closely as his fidgeted with his hands, nervously chewing his thumbnail as his eyes stared intently at the coffee table in front of him, “Why don’t you tell me what’s been happening?”

“I…I think I’m stressed. Really stressed,” Ben muttered, “Last night…something happened. Something _weird_ and it couldn’t have been real…”

“Go on,” Doctor Andor pressed gently, his voice soothing and calm. Ben almost resented the man for having peace of mind.

“Alright, so, I just moved into my new place and…I was about to go to bed when this _woman_ appeared in front of me,” Doctor Andor frowned lightly.

“A woman? Bazine?” Ben shook his head shakily. Despite how shaken he was from his night, having had no sleep except the few hours the scotch had lulled him into, the idea of finding his ex-wife standing at the end of his bed was still far more terrifying than a stranger.

“No, it was…I don’t know. I’d never seen this girl before in my life,” he confessed, “She was yelling at me that I was in _her_ apartment, to get out. I tried to make her leave but…I think she was in my head, I couldn’t touch her. Then she disappeared,”

After a moment of silence, the only sound coming from the Doctor’s pen scratching against the paper as he made notes, Doctor Andor smiled gently.

“And you say that this mystery woman was telling you that you were trespassing on her property?” he asked. Ben nodded, “You’ve had a hard time of things, Ben. You have a job that demands much of you, your divorce and now you’re moving into a new phase of your life. It sounds to me like your stress is manifesting itself in a far more direct manner. Did this girl give you a name?”

“No…but I guess I didn’t ask…”

“That’s because she isn’t real,” Doctor Andor said with an edge of firmness, “This will pass. Things will settle, and I want you to continue to use the breathing techniques we talked about,”

“What do I do if she comes back?” Ben asked, tinged with panic.

“If you see this vision again, I want you to sit down, close your eyes and breathe exactly the way I taught you until it goes away. If these hallucinations persist, come back and see me. Then we may have to look at alternative methods of treatment,”

“Alright,” Ben sighed, “Thank you, Doctor,”

“You’re welcome,” Doctor Andor smiled, “Remember, it’s all in your head. These things…they aren’t real, and they can’t hurt you,”

Ben nodded, forcing a tight smile onto his face. It was all in his head. She wasn’t real. She couldn’t hurt him.

So why couldn’t he stop seeing those hazel eyes in the back of his mind?

00000

Breathing.

That was his great Doctor’s advice. Breathing.

“Just do something I’ve been doing since the second I was born. Great. Fantastic advice,” Ben muttered absently as he walked down the New York streets, the amber leaves of the trees littering the sidewalk, dancing in the October breeze. More than one person gave him a sideways glance and why wouldn’t they.

He was a man talking to himself.

He had never seen this woman until he’d moved into the apartment. The apartment that she claimed was hers. The same apartment that was sold quickly, for cheap, because it was suddenly vacated.

The notion was ridiculous. That he was even entertaining the idea running through his mind was so ludicrous that it made him laugh out loud, high pitched and hysterical, yet more people crossing the street to avoid the crazy man in deep conversation with himself.

So far, she hadn’t appeared anywhere else except in his apartment. Giving in to himself, Ben decided to follow his gut instinct, as mental as it made him feel, knocking on the door across the hall.

“Oh! Hello Ben,” Maz said with a smile, fixing the large pair of glasses on her face, the thick lenses magnifying her eyes. An older woman, small and wrinkled with a large shawl over her shoulders, her whole appearance was that of a bewildered owl than a human, but she was polite and always gave him a cheery grin when she saw him in the hallway, “What can I do for you?”

“Maz, you’ve lived here a while, right?” Ben asked warily. The older woman nodded.

“Oh yes, I moved in here with my late husband Chewie, God rest his soul, almost 20 years ago now!” she replied.

“So, you knew the person that used to live in my apartment?” he said. The older woman’s smile fell, her face suddenly forlorn.

“Ah yes, Rey. Such a tragedy!” she sighed, “Such a beautiful young woman,” A knot forming in his stomach, Ben continued.

“If you don’t mind me asking…what happened to her? Did she move?”

“Heavens no, dear…Rey died,”

His gut clenching painfully, Ben paled, certain he could feel the blood draining from his face. His heart beating a staccato rhythm against his ribs, he swallowed thickly, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

“That’s…awful,” he choked, “This is going to sound strange but…what was she like? What did she look like?” Maz smiled fondly.

“She was a beauty! So young and full of life with those lovely eyes and that long brunette hair. Such a lovely English accent too. She was a sweetheart, always checking in on me, bringing me my mail and dropping by with groceries if I needed anything,” Maz said wistfully, “Too young, taken far too young…”

“What happened to her?” he asked quietly, hanging on every word the old woman spoke. The nostalgic, sad smile contorted into a painful grimace.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said achingly, “I’d rather not think…”

“Okay…okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you!” Ben said quickly, “I just…Um, some people had mentioned about this place and I wanted to know a little more,”

“That’s alright my boy,” she sniffed, “You should know. There is a beautiful soul that rests here…sometimes I still feel like she’s with us,”

_Lady, you have no idea…_

“Maybe she is,” he said shakily, “Thank you, for telling me. Oh and, hey, don’t worry about your mail…I’ll get it for you,” Maz beamed up at him, Ben bending down so she could pat him on the cheek.

“You’re a good boy!” she smiled, “Look after that apartment now!”

Crazy.

It was all crazy. Ghosts didn’t exist. Spirits and higher plains of existence didn’t exist. Other than what his Mother forced on him, he never once went to church or prayed to a deity past perhaps calling its name between the sheets but, really, who hadn’t done that?!

His fingers shook as he unlocked his front door, slamming it shut behind him and pulling the deadbolt. There was no way. It was _just stress_.

But if it was just stress then why was the girl sitting on his sofa, staring at him expectantly with an impatient glare.

“So, you’re still here then,” she snapped dryly. Startled, he dropped his keys to the wooden floor with a loud clatter. Ben ground the heel of his hands into his eyes, willing her to be gone when he removed them.

“You’re not real. You _can’t_ be real!” he groaned, “Please be gone. Please be gone…please, please, please…”

Removing his hands, he whined loudly seeing that she was still in the exact same place, staring at him like he was a lunatic.

“Oh, that’s lovely,” she drawled, “You take over my home and now you’re telling me I’m not real. Charming!”

“Okay…listen…holy shit I’m talking to a…a…”

“To a what?” she snarled.

“A ghost!”

The girl stared at him, a riotous laugh bursting from her lips as she continued her disbelief.

“No…I…I’m not a _ghost_!” Ben rushed forward.

“Alright, Rey? Your name is Rey isn’t it?” he asked quickly. Shock evident in her features, she blinked at him open-mouthed.

“I…yes, how did you know that?” she asked warily, standing to approach him, her eyes searching his face. Ben paused. Maz was right, the young woman was certainly a beauty.

“You used to live here,” he said gently, “You helped Maz with her mail and her groceries,”

“How do you know all this?” she demanded hotly, growing more impatient with his lack of response.

“What’s the last thing you remember before you turned up here?” he asked.

Rey opened her mouth to respond but suddenly no words would come. Tearing her eyes from him, they moved as she tried to search her memories, only to find them frustratingly blank.

“I…I don’t know,” she mumbled, “Darkness…cold…and then I was here,”

His head was throbbing, his chest so tight it felt like gasping for air through a straw. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be but if it wasn’t real, why was she here in front of him, matching the exact description Maz had given her, staring at him like _he_ had all the answers.

“And have you been able to leave?” he asked shakily. Wordlessly, her face growing anxious, Rey shook her head.

“N…no,” She whispered softly, “I went somewhere…blank…and then I was here again. Oh my God, …what’s happening to me?!” Ben took a deep, steadying breath.

“You died, Rey,”


	2. When Heaven and Hell Decide That They Both Are Satisfied...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t be dead! I’m only twenty-five, I just started making good money at work, I just got a flu shot, I…I just found a hairdresser that I like!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and all the kind comments so far! This story is going to be all kinds of fun to write, I can tell!
> 
> Oddly enough, I realized that _Sold (with Furniture)_ marks my 10th Reylo fic in the fandom since I got myself sucked in Christmas of last year! I started writing my first one in February 2018 and I've just not stopped since!
> 
> Happy 10th story to me!

[](https://imgur.com/pCo7IbL)

“I’m _DEAD_? What do you mean I’m dead?!”

“Uh…pretty much how it sounds,”

Ben stood there gracelessly, unsure how to go about communicating with the strange phantom before him. Her incredulous, confused eyes darted around the room, eventually holding up her hands, inspecting her limbs as if they held the answers.

“I think I’m going to be sick…wait, can I do that? Do I still have a stomach?!”

“I’m…not an expert…”

“I can’t be dead! I’m only twenty-five, I just started making good money at work, my friends are getting married soon, I…I just found a hairdresser that I like!” she cried, distraught as she paced in front of him.

“I mean, your hair looks nice?” Ben shrugged. He’d never been great at dealing with upset, emotional women at the best of times, happy to awkwardly step back until they had calmed down but, in those cases, at least there was something he could do about the problems said women would cry about.

There was an emotional spectre in his living room. This was _not_ a normal problem.

“I don’t _care_ about how my hair looks!” Rey wailed, her face in her hands as she marched past him.

No, not past. _Through._

The sensation was how he imagined it would feel to be plunged into a frozen lake. Cold unlike he’d ever experienced filled him from the inside out, every organ in his body stalling as his skin prickled like a thousand needles. He coughed, grabbing for his constricting chest.

“Fucking hell! Please, never do that again!” he gasped his whole-body shivering. Rey turned, confused.

“Do what again? Oh…oh no!” she gasped, “I didn’t mean that I’m so sorry!” she tried to reach for him, Ben jumping back with his arms in the air to keep her at a distance.

“Whoa, let’s just…slow down. I don’t want to feel like that again!” he said, “That was… _weird_ ,”

In Ben’s fragile, spinning mind there was only one thing that could have made the situation worse. Suddenly, a broken sob tore from Rey’s throat, burying her face in her hands as she cried, her shoulders shaking.

_Oh. Oh good, now she’s crying…_

“Hey now…Rey, please don’t cry,” Ben sighed uncomfortably, cautiously stepping closer to her, reaching out a hand to pat her on the back before remembering that she would never actually feel the contact, his hand swinging awkwardly in the air around her, his nose wrinkling helplessly, “We’ll…work this out?”

“How?!” She sniffed, “What even is there to work out? I’m dead and I’m _here_. I thought that there was supposed to be a better place…Oh no,” she gasped, sitting down on the sofa, the cushions remaining perfectly still despite her presence.

“What?”

“There was no light,” she mumbled absently, her eyes flicking to his helpless and lost, “I didn’t see a light. There was dark, cold and nothing…then I was here. Isn’t there supposed to be an afterlife?”

Ben scratched the back of his neck gawkily, willing himself to wake up from whatever strange dream he’d found himself sucked into. Any minute now he was going to wake and find out he’d been in a coma for 9 months. He’d seen it on the TV show ‘Dallas’, surely it was possible?

For now, he was stuck there, having a philosophical conversation about the possibility of the existence of an afterlife with a dead woman.

“I…I couldn’t really tell you,” Ben muttered, “but if there is, I’m sure you’re on the list to the good one!”

“This can’t be hell. If it is they’re not trying very hard…but if there is a heaven, why didn’t I get in?” she cried, forlorn, “I was a good person, I think…parking tickets? I didn’t pay parking tickets on time. Oh my God, what if it was the tipping thing? Sometimes I wouldn’t have enough change in my purse and I couldn’t tip enough…”

“I don’t think you’d be knocked back from heaven for parking tickets and tipping,” Ben said sardonically, “Maybe this is…I dunno, purgatory?”

“Oh great, stuck here in my old apartment with a yuppie for company!” She drawled, Ben frowning defensively.

“Oi! Look, we’re going to work something out,”

“Like _what,_ Swayze? Short of a bloody pottery wheel, I’m at a bit of a loss!” she snapped sarcastically, wrapping her arms around her body.

“I don’t know!” he cried, “Funnily enough this is uncharted territory for me and frankly, I’m still not completely convinced that you aren’t just a figment of my imagination out to get me,”

“How dare you!”

“How dare I? Talk to a lot of ghosts while you were alive, hmm?” he asked, the girl immediately closing her mouth, “Exactly,”

“So…what now then?” she asked, “I’m stuck here,”

“Have you tried walking out the front door?”

“Yes, and it didn’t work,” she growled testily, “It’s like there’s a brick wall in front of me. Something wants me to stay here,” Ben nodded, finally shrugging off his wool coat and hanging it on the stand near the door. Silently, exhausted he wandered to the sofa, throwing himself down at the other side.

“It can’t be all bad?” he said, forcing a cheery smile, “Don’t you get cool ghost powers?” Rey quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m not a genie!” she snorted, “I can’t just wiggle my nose and make things happen!”

“You can walk through people…that’s kinda cool,” Rey sighed sadly.

“Never being able to feel or touch anyone again…oh yeah, totally cool,” she grumbled. Ben huffed a sigh, his patience wearing thin. He was rarely around people often, preferring to spend most of his time alone but now it was like being burdened with a small, very angry roommate that he never asked for.

“Okay, I see your point,” he said shortly, “Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself? Maybe that will help us work out how to get you past those pearly gates?”

Rey regarded him suspiciously, searching his face before sighing, leaning back against the sofa in defeat.

“Alright. My name is Rey Jackson, I moved here after I graduated when I was 22,” she said simply.

“And…” Ben prodded, gesturing for her to continue by rolling his hand. Rey shrugged.

“And what?”

“There’s got to be more than that! Where did you work? Family? Friends? Boyfriend?” She stiffened, her brows knitting in discomfort.

“I worked for a large architectural firm helping to calculate structural loads. I didn’t have any family here whatsoever…or back in London, I didn’t have anyone,” she snapped. Ben winced. Clearly the subject was uncomfortable for her.

“Alright, what about friends?” he asked, “Or a boyfriend?”

“I had one close friend. His name is Finn,” she muttered, “I didn’t have a boyfriend,” Ben’s eyebrows raised, genuinely surprised by her admission.

“Really? Hmm,”

“What?”

“Nothing it’s just…cute girls normally have boyfriends,” he said flippantly, his eyes widening as he realised what he had said, his mouth contorting into a thin, mortified line. Rey blushed, something he had never known a ghost to do before.

_Yes, because I’ve met so many ghosts in my time…_

“You think I’m cute?” she asked innocently, her eyes wide as she turned to look at him. Ben grumbled under his breath, rubbing his sockets with his fists. Either he was accidentally flirting with a figment of his imagination or a phantom, neither option thrilled him as he pondered the true state of his mental health.

“Well, uh, you know…for a dead chick,”

The flash of hurt in her eyes told him his inelegant backtracking had been a mistake, the defensive frown marring her lovely face as she glared at him.

“For a dead chick!? You know what, you want me to go…fine! I’ll go back to the dark place and you won’t need to hear from this _dead chick_ anymore!” she snapped viciously, evaporating in front of him as he sat up quickly, before he could get a word out to stop her.

Groaning he fell back to the sofa, grabbing a cushion and pulling it over his face.

_My charm with women, as ever, prevails…_

00000

Was this his life now?

Since Rey had disappeared again, Ben still felt an eerie sensation that he was being watched. Suddenly mindful of his every move, he spent the remainder of his night quietly, researching stress and it’s affects on the human psyche. After a few hours of reading, a carton of kung pow chicken and a serious headache on the horizon, Ben had decided it was in fact, stress.

_Definitely stress…_

Ghosts, spirits, spectres or whatever else people chose to call them didn’t exist. God, the afterlife, heaven and hell. All were stories made up to scare people into behaving a certain way. He considered himself an educated man. He believed in evidence, things he could touch and examine. This girl, this Rey, was nothing more than a hallucination brought on by the toll his life was taking on him.

At least, that’s what Ben continued to tell himself as he prepared for bed. Maybe he would be lucky and actually get that full nights sleep he so badly needed, surely that wasn’t helping matters. Being overtired was bound to make things worse.

The only light in his bedroom came from the moon streaming through the slits in his blinds, mingled with the ethereal glow of the white streetlights. The darkness soothing the headache that squeezed between his temples like a vice, Ben found himself drifting into a far more peaceful sleep than expected.

For the first time in so long he wasn’t thinking of his ex-wife, his job, his parents or anything else that brought strain into his life. In the darkness he saw her eyes, wide and shining, morphing from the deepest earthy browns to vibrant greens and everything in between. She was smiling, her face lit up with radiance.

She was smiling for him.

The sound of sniffles roused him from his rest, the light still cutting through the darkness like blades as he opened his eyes. Sitting on the end of the bed was Rey, tears streaking her devastated face, the streaks of moonlight falling over her body. Unbidden, his heart leapt sharply as he sat up, Rey’s head snapping to stare at him.

“Rey?”

“Please…please don’t make me go back there,” she sobbed, “I’ll be quiet, I promise. I’ll stay out of your way, but I can’t stay there!”

“Stay where?” he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

“The dark place. It’s so empty…there’s nothing there,” her lip quivered as she wiped her damp cheeks, “There’s no light. No warmth or emotion. It’s just this huge void and all you have is yourself and I _can’t_ …”

“Shhh, it’s okay…don’t cry,” he soothed, wishing there was anything else he could do to help, “You can stay here. You can,”

“Thank you,” she whimpered, offering him a watery smile that he returned.

“Are you going to be okay?” Rey nodded shakily.

“I think so,” she said suddenly looking around the room, “Oh…shit. Did I wake you?”

“It’s no big deal,” Ben shrugged, “But I am going to try and get some more sleep, if you don’t mind?” Rey shook her head, biting her lower lip anxiously.

“No! Please, get some sleep but…ah, never mind. It’s stupid,”

“What?”

“Could I lie next to you?” she asked nervously, “I don’t need to sleep, per say but I really just don’t want to be alone right now. I’ll shut my eyes if that makes it less creepy!”

A beautiful girl, taken from the world too soon, fated to a possible eternity of purgatory in his apartment sat at the end of his bed, asking if she could lie with him. Who was he to deny her anything?

“Sure,” he smiled, shuffling a little further to one side of the king size, “Come on,”

Relief washed over her face, the spectre moving to the other side of the bed and lying herself down. She left no indent, no pull on the sheets but he could still feel the strange tingling chill that came from her presence.  Lying to face him, she closed her eyes.

“You’re not alone,” he told her quietly, already feeling the heavy tug of sleep pulling at him. Rey smiled.

“Neither are you,”

00000

“Hi Ben!”

Ben lifted his hand to wave absently at the bubbly blonde behind the reception desk of the New York Times office. She smiled at him enthusiastically as he walked past, his messenger bag tucked under his arm and his knee length charcoal wool coat billowing behind him.

“Hey Kaydel,” he greeted politely, intent on that being the end of their potential conversation, fighting a wince when the girl called after him.

“Did you have a chance to think about that drink?” she asked, “I’m free next week?”

He had in fact thought about it. Ben had thought long and hard about all the ways he could let the girl down without hurting her feelings. All the normal excuses that most women would have accepted simply hadn’t worked so far. Telling her he was in the middle of a divorce and it wasn’t the right time resulted in her laughing, touching his chest in a far too intimate way as she threw her head back, telling him that he should get back out there and have fun.

He’d already used the reason that his parents were in town, he had an alumni event to go to for his college, conventions, meetings, his work. Nothing seemed to deter the eager woman. Ben began to wonder if getting it over with was the better option, giving him the excuse to tell her that he simply didn’t feel it after their date and no hard feelings.

But how many women took _that_ well?

_Hey Kaydel, I know you got all dressed up and batted your eyelashes at me all night but I’m just not that into you. Please don’t stick your stiletto heel through my throat at the office Christmas party?_

Before he could answer, a merciful voice called him.

“Ben! Good, you’re here. Step into my office. Kaydel, please hold my calls,” Gwen Phasma said, standing at her frosted glass door with a conspiratorial smile. Nodding, he shot Kaydel an apologetic look and he walked towards the woman with a slightly quicker step than necessary.

“What can I do for you Gwen?” He asked, the woman closing the door behind him, “If it’s about my article, it’s all done. I’m just going to send it to get proof read…” Gwen smiled, wandering over to the coffee machine in the corner of her large space.

They had known each other for years. Gwen had been Ben’s editor since he had started writing about the arts and over the years their professional friendship had grown closer.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing, I just thought you looked like you needed rescuing,” she smirked, turning with two espresso cups in her hand to put one in front of him. Ben smiled.

“You’re not far off the mark, thank you,”

“I take it Kaydel is _still_ vying for your attention?” she said, sitting down in her plush office chair and sipping her coffee. Ben nodded.

“Yup. I’m running out of ways to say no,” he groaned.

“Well here’s an idea and stop me if it seems too left field for you, but have you actually just tried saying no?” she asked, the same amused smile playing on her lips, “I’ve heard it’s very effective!”

“I’m trying to be polite!” he stressed, “When you tell a girl no the next question is normally why, and I just don’t think I have an answer,”

“I know she’s a little young…”

“Her age isn’t the problem,” Ben sighed, “It’s just not a good time,”

“Yes, yes, your whore of an ex-wife. I know,” Gwen said, “You’ll need to get back out there eventually,”

“She’s just not my type, I’m not interested,” he said plainly. Gwen looked thoughtful.

“Well then, who is your type?”

_Hazel eyes. Brunette hair. Freckles. Beautiful smile. Possibly a figment of my imagination…_

“I, uh, I don’t really know,” he muttered, “Hey, I have a question and I’d like you not to give me the face when I ask it,”

“What face?”

“ _The_ face. The ‘Gwen think you’re a moron and is judging you’ face, and please don’t laugh either!” Gwen sat silently for a moment, watching him quizzically.

“Alright,” she answered slowly, “Go on…”

“Do you believe in spirits?”

“Like, vodka? That’s a spirit I can get behind every time…”

“No! Like…ghosts, the afterlife, all of that stuff?” he said quietly.

She was going to laugh at him, he just knew it. For all the time he’d known Gwen, she’d always been a no-nonsense person. Highly educated and brilliant at her job, what he’d just asked her would certainly fall under her idea of trivial and useless.

Which was why he was surprised by her answer.

“Actually, I do,” she said pleasantly, “Well don’t look so surprised!”

“Sorry, I just didn’t think it was something you’d be interested in per say,” Gwen shrugged, her chair bouncing.

“It never used to be but when my grandfather died when I was a teenager, the idea that he was in a better place gave me a sense of wellbeing. It made the mourning period after he passed much easier to swallow,” she explained, Ben nodding in understanding as he pondered.

“So…you don’t believe he’s a ghost?”

“Not at all. You know what they say,”

“I do not…”

“Ghosts are people who died with unfinished business,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “They get trapped because there’s something they were missing,”

“How do you know all this?” Ben exclaimed, both perplexed and entertained at the same time. Gwen rolled her eyes.

“I was a lot of Crossing Over with John Edward okay?” she said haughtily, “It’s a guilty pleasure and if you tell anyone I’ll kill you!” Ben chuckled at the woman, noticing the embarrassed flush creeping up her neck.

“Cross my heart. Does John mention how to get rid of ghosts?”

“Ben, what is this actually about?” she asked kindly, “You come into the office exhausted all the time, looking like hell and now you’re asking me about the next plane of existence? Talk to me, what’s happening?” Ben sighed, his hands rubbing his tired face, carding through his long hair to push it back.

“I think I’m being haunted,” he said. Gwen stared at him quietly, her face passive save for the small tick at the side of her mouth.

“I see…”

“I don’t know if it’s all in my head or whatever, but she _feels_ real…”

“She?” Gwen questioned, her eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.

“Um, yes,”

Silently, Gwen stood, walking around her desk to stand in front of where Ben sat. She smiled at him sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Ben, you’ve been through a lot. You’re working too hard,” she said softly, “I think what you need is to take a couple of days off. Speak to your Doctor if you have to, get some real rest,”

“But…what about the column? My work?” Gwen shook her head.

“Your health is more important. As your boss, and more importantly, as your friend, I’m telling you to take a long weekend and get some rest,” she said firmly. Ben nodded shakily.

“Alright…I think I’ll do that,” he mumbled, “Thanks Gwen,”

“You’re welcome. Now come on, get out of here!”

Gratefully he nodded, saying his goodbye at her office door and promising he would return on the Monday. Walking past the desk where Kaydel sat, his mind too full of what Gwen had told him, he barely heard Kaydel as she spoke.

“So, meet me next Friday?” she asked boldly. Shrugging without any want to fight it anymore, he nodded.

“Yeah, sure…whatever works,” he sighed, turning away from the girl so he wouldn’t have to look at the beaming smile on her face. He needed to go and rest, clear his head.

_Looks like I’ve got some TV to watch…_


	3. Three and a Half Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh, Jesus fucking Christ, Ben” Rey groaned, “Please tell me the fate of my eternal soul isn’t about to rest with a woman who has three and a half stars on Yelp?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another thank you to everyone who is reading, commenting, sharing etc.
> 
> Heart you all! xx

[](https://imgur.com/PqGiXdO)

The moment he stepped through his front door, coffee and a bagel in hand, he spotted her, sitting upside down on his sofa, her legs in the air and hair hanging towards the floor. If what a ghost did could even be classed as sitting. Spotting him she smiled brightly, moving upright.

“Hello, darling! How was the office? I’d offer to take your coat and fix you a drink, but I can’t actually interact with anything,” she said, her voice saturated with a mocking sweetness and her face sporting a smile that a Stepford wife would have been proud of.

“If you can’t interact with anything then how can you sit on my sofa and lie on my bed?” he asked, putting down his food on the coffee table.

“I’ll rephrase. I can’t seem to interact with anything small,” Rey said, occasionally glancing between Ben and the bagel, “So far that doesn’t seem to be a thing but large objects, well, I can’t really feel them. I know this is leather, but it doesn’t _feel_ like leather. It doesn’t feel like anything, just a strange shape of space that I can’t pass through. Walls on the other hand…”

“Oh good, you can walk through walls,” Ben drawled, grabbing his coffee. Rey frowned.

“You didn’t bring anything for me?” she asked, watching the paper cup hover in front of his face before he could sip.

“Do you even feel hunger?” He pointed out. Rey pouted, her arms folding over her chest.

“Well…no, but it’s nice to be asked!” she muttered. Ben put down his coffee, pulling off his coat and scarf to hang on the rack before wandering over to the sofa. Already he was growing used to the air being cooler around her body, a piece of evidence that he could use to reason with himself that he wasn’t going crazy.

“So, you’re home early. Tell me everything! What did you do? Who did you see?” she asked enthusiastically, turning to him and staring at him expectantly.

“Why so many questions?” he asked with an amused smile, noticing that her face was not as entertained.

“Because in case you hadn’t noticed, you’re literally the only person in the whole world I have to talk to and when you’re not here it’s kind of dull,” she said, “You could at least have left the TV on for me or something!”

“Speaking of,” he said grabbing for the remote control, pressing the button to turn on the flat screen, “We have got some research to do,”

“Oh really?” Rey smiled curiously, “What are we watching? If it’s Ghost Busters I’m going to find a way to kill you…”

“It’s not!” he assured, “Although I did hear the remake was pretty good,”

“Not funny,”

“Here we are!” Ben declared, selecting the programme he had been searching for on his satellite. Rey stared at the TV in dumbfounded horror, her mouth hanging agape.

“You have _got_ to be fucking kidding?”

“What? It’s not Ghost Busters!”

“No, it’s Ghost Hunters…sad people who walk around creepy buildings in the dark to try and find things that aren’t there,” she said with distaste, “Even before I _was_ a ghost I hated these shows,”

“Well, they might give us some ideas on how to get you moving on up,” Ben said patiently, “And it’s my TV so you can either sit and watch or sit in the wall. It’s up to you,”

“Fine,” Rey huffed, settling herself in next to him and focussing on the programme. Within 10 minutes of the ridiculous viewing, Rey was shouting at the TV.

“That’s bollocks!” she yelled, throwing her arms in the air and gesturing wildly at the screen, “There’s nothing there. Zich, nada, zip. Mate, you’re talking to an empty dark room!”

“How do you know?” Ben chuckled, watching her with an easy smile on his face.

“Because I can see it!” she stressed, “I can see there’s nothing there!”

“You’ve been a spirit now, what? A few weeks and suddenly you’re an expert?” he chuckled, watching her with a fond, amused smile.

“I’m more of an expert than you are, big guy!” she fired back, “But seriously, even if that place was haunted, surely they’d have better things to do than show themselves to these guys? Any noises or bumps they’re hearing won’t be from evil spirits trying to drive them away but annoyed, dead folk just wanting some peace and quiet!”

Ben nodded in understanding, silence falling between them as they watched until Rey suddenly spoke.

“What do you think heaven is like?” she asked softly, her eyes still on the TV. Ben glanced at her, carefully thinking of his answer.

“Up until this morning, I wasn’t convinced there was a heaven. Or a hell, for that matter,” he shrugged, “I don’t know. Lots of clouds, blue sky, guys with wings playing the harp…” Rey giggled, her light laughter echoing around the room. He had barely noticed how close they had become, leaning against the back of his sofa, heads tilted towards the other as they spoke.

“When I was alive, my idea of heaven was sitting over there on that window seat with a huge blanket and a book, listening to the rain hit the glass,” she smiled wistfully, “Now, I think heaven is a beach house…it’s right on the sand and you can hear the waves crashing. There’s no city, no noise, it’s just peaceful and beautiful. That’s what I want,”

He was staring at her. He knew he was staring but he couldn’t look away. As she spoke of that precious place, her eyes twinkled, her wishful smile added to the otherworldly, subtle glow that seemed to surround her. For the first time, he could have sworn he felt warmth radiating from her skin.

“Or, you know, whatever the man upstairs wants to give me!” she laughed softly, still gazing into his cedarwood eyes, their TV watching long forgotten.

“I’m going to get you there, I promise,” he said quietly.

“Gotta say, stuck here on earth with you? That’s not so bad…”

“Really?” he asked, damning his voice for how hopeful and small it sounded. Rey nodded, the action alone making his heart beat a little faster.

“Really,” she confirmed, “Now, please…I beg you, turn the channel,”

00000

Ben had never been particularly comfortable around women.

Really when he began to think about it, he was never really comfortable around anyone. Being alone was easy. Nobody demanded anything from you, there was no conversation to try and hold up, nobody shouted at him for drinking milk straight from the carton. Bazine had been a menace to live with, constantly forcing dinner parties with her equally obnoxious friends on his time and filling the rest with idle chatter about people who he’d never met.

It was a strange twist of fate that the first woman he’d ever truly felt at ease with happened to be the dead girl perpetually hanging out in his apartment.

For all her sarcasm and jibes at him, he assumed that it really must all stem for boredom. Being trapped without the ability to fill the time with the every day he took for granted like eating and sleeping must have been torture. It was like he had acquired a roommate. Someone to talk to without the arguments over wet towels on the bathroom floor.

Ben was starting to find the idea of her suddenly not being there strange and unnerving, realizing that he would miss her presence, but he had made her a promise and if there was one thing he was going to do right, he was going to help her reach heaven.

_Whatever that is…_

Rey watched curiously from her place curled up on the window seat as Ben answered the knock on the door.

“Right on time,” he said happily, “Hello, please come in. Thank you for coming,”

From the hall, she could hear him speaking with someone, their mumbles growing louder until Ben entered the living room.

With a priest.

“You have _got_ to be having a laugh,” Rey cried, jumping up from the window seat over to where Ben stood, the man examining the space around him, “A priest? _Really?!_ ”

Ben didn’t reply, only glancing and nodding in her direction and she realized that he couldn’t say a word. The other man was blind to her. Rey smiled wickedly. The red-headed preacher was smartly dressed, deciding to forgo the full garb for his smart black suit, the collar firmly around his neck.

“So, are you getting any vibes, Father…”

“Hux, Father Armitage Hux,” the priest replied with a kind smile, “And you’re saying this is the room the spirit first appeared in?”

“Actually, it was the bedroom but whatever,” Rey drawled, rolling her eyes as she circled the oblivious man of the Lord, “Holy shit…he really can’t see me!” She grinned at Ben, who only cast nervous flicks of his eye in her direction.

“It was the bedroom first, a few nights ago,” Ben confirmed, “But it mainly, um, hangs out here,” he muttered, trying to ignore Rey’s indignant scowl.

“ _IT_? I’m not some clown in a sewer!” She snapped. Father Hux wandered the apartment, a bible in one hand.

“I can feel a chilling presence!”

“That’s because the big guy over there left the window open…”

“Yes, there is something here infesting your home!” Hux announced firmly, still walking the living room and inspecting the furniture.

“Lovely, now I’m an infestation. Ben, the people you bring round are just delightful!” Ben cleared his throat, awkwardly watching the man reach into the inner pocket of his black suit jacket to pull out a large wooden cross.

“Of course, because that’s what we all keep inside our jackets,” Rey quipped dryly, Ben grinding his teeth in frustration.

“Will you _shut up_!” He hissed under his breath, Father Hux spinning around.

“Did you say something?”

“No Father! Um, is there anything that you can do to help the…spirit move on?” Ben asked, “I really think this spirit would be more comfortable once they’ve passed to…wherever it is they want to go,”

_I didn’t call her ‘it’ this time…_

Hux nodded confidently, Rey standing with a smile on her face in front of the man.

“Oh, I cannot _wait_ to see this!” she grinned, “Come on then, God me up Huxy!”

“We are dealing with something evil and malicious,” Hux declared dramatically, said evil and malicious spirit giggling so hard she had to cover her mouth with her hand, “but I believe we can banish it from whence it came!”

“Oi! I am not that bad,” She snapped, “I wonder what would happen…”

Standing so close to Hux, Ben shook his head fanatically, gesturing behind the priest’s back for her to stop as she playfully reached out, poking him in the face with a single index finger. A loud yelp escaped the man’s lips, his shoulders shaking as he shuddered.

“I can feel something!” He shouted, manically waving the cross in his hand as if he were surrounded, Ben jumping back startled to give him room, “It is here!”

“She. _She_ is here,” Rey corrected, her words falling on deaf ears, “Honestly, so bloody rude…”

Sauntering around the man like a cat playing with a mouse, Rey smirked, watching Father Hux as he opened his bible.

“Then Jesus said to him ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY!’” He cried reading aloud, manically waving the cross until it was inches from her face. Unimpressed, Rey looked to Ben.

“I’m getting bored of this now. He’s not being very nice to me,” She said haughtily, “Listen mate, either get me on the guest list or get out. House Hunters is about to come on and I need the big guy over there to work the remote…”

“BEGONE FOUL DEMON!”

“I don’t think you need to be doing that,” Ben interrupted, “I don’t think the spirit is evil so much as…frustrated?”

“Ben, it’s not going to work. He’s about to start speaking in tongues,” Rey sighed, stepping directly through the man towards Ben.

Hux grabbed his chest, gasping as he dropped to his knees, trembling all over. Rey winced, her face suddenly apologetic.

“Shit! Sorry, I forgot it does that to people,” she said, “I just stepped through a priest…”

“Are you alright?” Ben asked Hux, the man shaking as he clamored to his feet, his eyes wide and frantic.

“This is…too much,” he stammered, “I suggest that you leave this place as soon as you can! Here, take this!” He shoved the cross into Ben’s hand, the taller man blinking at the priest with a bewildered expression as he scrambled towards the door.

“I wish you the best of luck my son. Be with God!” with his final word, Father Hux left the apartment, the door slamming behind him.

Staring at the door, Ben looked between the cross and where Father Hux had once been, stunned at the whole display he had just invited into his home. Turning to Rey, the cross still in his hand, she grinned at him playfully.

“So, House Hunters?”

_Jesus wept…_

00000

“Alright, the priest _may_ have been a terrible idea,” Ben admitted, “But come on, you have to see my logic!”

“I do. Bribe the bouncer to get you into the VIP section but this isn’t some club in Soho, it’s heaven,” Rey said, “And I’m not sure they accept bribes…being heaven and all,”

Ben chuckled as he sat in front of his laptop at the desk in his bedroom, Rey lying on her front on his bed, her converse clad feet waving back and forth behind her as she absently twirled her hair watching him.

“I take it you have another plan?” Rey asked, “Other than to turn the heating up because it’s Autumn and I’m slowly giving you hypothermia by being here,”

Ben shrugged as he typed. Since Rey’s arrival, he had slowly grown used to the cold.

“Actually, I do. Something a friend of mine said,”

“Is this the same friend that suggested you watched Ghost Hunters or that terrible man that pretends he can talk to the dead just to make grieving family members cry?” Rey asked in distaste, “I’m not sure I trust that kind of advice,”

“This is good advice. I promise,” He said, “Ha! Found her!”

“Found who?” Rey asked, standing from the bed to hover over his shoulder, her eyebrow raising at the screen.

**Rose Tico – Medium and expert in the supernatural**

“Oh, Jesus fucking Christ, Ben” Rey groaned, “Please tell me the fate of my eternal soul isn’t about to rest with a woman who has three and a half stars on Yelp?”

“It’s four stars actually and she comes highly recommended!” He said proudly, “Or do you have any other ideas?” Rey paused, looking thoughtful.

“Well…I’m starting to connect to more things. I have a sense of smell for your world again. Why don’t you go and bake some cookies, so I can smell them?” Ben frowned.

“No, stop trying to get me to make snacks you can’t eat. I’m going to start putting on weight,” he grumbled, “This could work. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Fine,” Rey sighed, “but if she turns up with a crystal ball wearing a silk turban don’t say I didn’t want you!”

Rose had answered his email the same day, arranging to make a visit to the apartment the day after. The fact she had so much free time and was eager for the job didn’t seem to make Ben suspicious as Rey would have liked, the specter pointing out to him multiple times there was every chance Rose Tico was a con artist.

Answering the door, Ben couldn’t have been more surprised to see a small, young woman standing there wearing jeans and a pink sweater, a cheery smile on her face.

“Ben Solo? Hi, I’m Rose!” She greeted, shaking his hand.

“Hey, great to meet you, come in,” Ben smiled, stepping aside to invite her into the apartment. Slowly, Rose walked into the living room, the smile still on her face. Sitting on the window seat, her legs swinging, Rey grinned.

“No crystal ball! That’s a good start,” Rey said, looking the other woman up and down, “And she seems…normal? Hmm. Surprising,” Rose continued to look around.

“You have a lovely home,” she said, “You mentioned that you just moved here?” Ben nodded.

“Uh, yeah…about a week ago,” he answered. Rose nodded.

“I see, and that’s when you felt the presence you mentioned,” she asked, Ben once again nodded as Rey smirked.

“Come on, tell me _all_ about myself,” Rey goaded, dancing around the girl as she stood perfectly still with her eyes closed, “I can’t wait to hear what this one has to say!” she giggled, smiling at Ben as if the whole situation was nothing more than a game.

“This is a sad place,” Rose said quietly, her eyes opening. The smile on Rey’s face faltered, her head snapping back to Rose, standing in front of the girl.

“What?”

“This place, it’s so sad,” Rose said wistfully, “The person who lived here before you…it was a girl, a young girl,”

“Yeah…that’s right,” Ben confirmed, carefully watching Rey as she stood silently in front of the medium, frozen and listening intently.

“She was lonely,” Rose continued, “At night, desperate to sleep. You can feel the emptiness, it’s still here,”

“That’s not true,” Rey stammered quietly, shaking her head in denial, “I…I was fine. I had my work, I read a lot,”

“It’s saturated in the place. A deep longing for a connection,” Rose said, “For a family,”

“I had friends…they…they visited sometimes,” Rey choked, her voice strained, her eyes glassy with tears. Rose winced suddenly.

“Oh my God. She died…in a dark place,” Rose gasped, “Cold…”

“Please stop,” Rey whispered, tears spilling over her lashes, her lower lip trembling as she stared at the girl spilling her truth.

“Desperate…”

“No…stop, I don’t want to hear it…”

“She was scared…scared nobody would find her,” Rose choked, her face contorted in pain as she felt the vibrations in the room.

“ _STOP IT_!”

Her scream, so anguished, covering her own ears as she squeezed her eyes shut. He wanted to reach out to her, to hold her close and tell her that everything was going to be alright. She was safe with him and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her again.

The high pitched, agonizing wail reverberated around the room, the lightbulbs attached to the sconces flickering and bursting under the pressure, littering the floor with fine shards of glass. Rose was knocked to her back as Rey disappeared. Breathing heavily, Ben looked up from where he had shielded his face, rushing to help Rose to her feet.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking around for any trace of Rey. Rose nodded shakily.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, “You have a very strong spirit attached to this home with a lot of unfinished business,”

“I’ve heard of that before. Unfinished business,” Ben said, “What does that mean?” Rose shrugged.

“It means just that. This girl died needing to know something or do something that she didn’t accomplish. The need was so strong that it’s tied her here,” Rose explained, “It’s fairly common in spirits. I suggest trying to find some of her family or friends, speak to them and find out more about her,”

Ben nodded, thanking the woman and paying her for her time. Ensuring she was alright before she left, he walked her to the door, Rose to turn to him before she descended his building’s stairs.

“Whoever she was, I hope she finds peace,”

_Me too…_

00000

The silence was discomforting to him, having become used to her constant chattering.

Alone he watched House Hunters, he cut up slices of ready-made cookie dough, the smell as they baked wafting through the whole apartment. Nothing coaxed her from wherever she had disappeared to. Eventually, when darkness had fallen over New York City and he felt like he could barely keep his eyes open, Ben went to bed.

Now he was sure she was more than just his frazzled brain playing tricks on him. There was no way Rose would have been able to pluck all of that from thin air, the unadulterated devastation in Rey’s eyes telling him that every word Rose said was the truth that the spirit didn’t want to hear.

Doctor Andor would have a field day if he ever told him.

He knew what loneliness was like. He had been surrounded by people and knew the pain of having every one of them look straight through. Cutting at first, but it happens so often that eventually it leaves nothing but a dull ache in your chest that you learn to live with.

Sighing in the darkness of his bedroom, he rolled over, his eyes meeting hers as she lay there staring directly at him, her nose inches from his.

“Hi,” she whispered, her voice broken, “I’m sorry about your lights,”

Ben smiled, a minute movement at the corner of his lips as his heart hurt for her. Something was different, the same tingling sensation crawled along his skin having her so near, but the chill wasn’t so profound.

“You’re not so cold,” he said softly. Rey smiled, her eyes shining in the dark.

“You make me warm,”


	4. The Haunting of Kaydel Connix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Be…Ben, there’s a book floating in your apartment!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, another thank you! I'm always still amazed when people are into the stuff I'm writing <3 Keep those comments coming, I love reading what you guys think is up!

[](https://imgur.com/g4tWAHH)

His knee bouncing, Ben sat on the sofa in Doctor Andor’s inoffensive office waiting for the man across from him to speak, the Doctor flicking through his notes.

“So, you took a few days off work?” Doctor Andor confirmed, “How are you feeling after that?”

Ben shifted uncomfortably in his seat, deciding that it was probably for the best he didn’t mention that his home had hosted a rather dramatic Catholic priest, a medium who had been right on the money and a lost soul named Rey who liked to watch reality TV.

“Uh, yeah, better I think,” Ben said, “I’ve been sleeping better. I think that’s helping,”

“Good, I’m very glad to hear it,” Doctor Andor smiled, “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about today? You look like you have something on your mind,”

_Jesus take the wheel…_

“I…I kind of met someone,” Ben said slowly. Doctor Andor nodded as he scribbled his notes.

“Someone you’re interested in romantically?” the Doctor confirmed.

“Um…I…maybe? I think so, I’m not sure,” Ben stammered, “How do you even know?”

“Well, how did you feel when you met your ex-wife?” Ben grunted.

“Angry. I was just this angry person,” he said sharply, “I wasn’t really looking for anything and Bazine was just kind of there. Everything kind of happened on her terms, including the engagement,”

“It sounds like you were rather passive in your participation with that relationship,” Ben nodded, leaning forward on his knees, his ridged brow furrowing.

“Yeah, I guess I was. Now I think about it, I’m not sure I ever really loved Bazine,” he said, realization dawning in his deep-set eyes.

“Is this because of how you feel about this person you’ve met?” Ben nodded again slowly, “Tell me about her?”

“It’s a little…complicated,” Ben muttered awkwardly, “There’s a lot of…uh…distance…”

“So, she lives far away?” Ben snorted.

“Something like that,” he said dryly. Doctor Andor continued to scribble in his notepad.

“Well you know there are plenty of couples who have long distance relationships, most rather successfully,”

_Not like this buddy…_

“What makes this girl different?”

_Oh boy…_

“I see her, and I just feel happy,” Ben said simply, “I don’t feel stressed out around her, she doesn’t ask anything except a good conversation and for once I don’t mind. I want to talk. I want to tell her everything! I just…she’s got this amazing smile, you know? I want to make her smile all the time,”

Doctor Andor’s face held a whisper of a smile behind his professional façade as Ben spoke, his patient lighting up before his eyes.

“And I take it this is the woman you’re going out with tonight?”

_Shit_

“Um…yes…” Ben answered awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck as he avoided the Doctors eyes.

In all the mania that his reality had become, Ben had almost forgotten about his so-called date with Kaydel. That was until the blonde had sent him an email and text message to remind him, being sure to tell him how excited she was. From then the feeling of dread only grew as the day approached. Talking with Doctor Andor, the date hadn’t crossed his mind until his Doctor had brought it up.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time,” Doctor Andor smiled.

_Doubt it…_

00000

Coming home from his errands, he noticed that the smile on his face came easily when he saw her, the expression tinged with confusion when noticed she was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his floor, surrounded by random objects.

“Ben!” Rey cried, grinning manically, “Something amazing happened!”

“Uh, hi,” he greeted, “What’s happened?” Rey jumped to her feet, bouncing on her heels in excitement as she grabbed items from the floor, a mug in one hand and a book in the other.

“I was bored…”

“Of course, you were,”

“and I was wandering around and I can _touch_ things, look!” She exclaimed, waving the mug and book in his face. Ben chuckled along with her, the excitement radiating from every part of her being, the smile so wide it was pinching her cheeks, “Oh my God, if nobody can see me…then it looks like these are floating. WHOOOOOOO!”

Ben giggled, the noise from his mouth catching him off guard as she danced around him, making the most ridiculous exaggerated ghost noises he had ever heard. When was the last time anyone had made him laugh that way?

“Alright, easy Casper, I _can_ see you so what you’re doing is less Poltergeist and more…some crazy girl dancing around my living room,” he smiled, Rey stopping and putting down the items.

“I love that movie!” she gushed, “Oh, let’s watch it tonight. He’s a friendly ghost, I’m a friendly ghost…”

“You’re a sarcastic ghost,”

“I’m a friendly sarcastic ghost,” Rey continued, “You can make enough popcorn for two even though I’m only going to smell it and we both know you’re still going to finish the bowl…it’ll be fun!”

“Ah…”

“Come on Ben, can I keep you?” she winked, her teeth pulling at her bottom lip, her eyes sparkling.

“I can’t tonight, I have this date thing,” he muttered, instantly regretting his choice of words. Rey stared at him like she’d been slapped across the face, hurt flashing in her eyes as she struggled to find words.

“Oh…” she mumbled quietly. Ben winced, her tone more hurt than he expected.

“It’s nothing really…just some girl from the office,” he said dismissively. Rey nodded shakily.

“Cool…cool, yeah that’s, um, great!” she muttered, “I mean you should go out! It’s a Friday night and you’re…alive,”

“Rey…”

“And she’s alive and I guess that really helps when it comes to dating,” she rambled, toying with the hem of her white tee shirt.

“Seriously, it’s not even a thing!” Ben insisted, “I don’t even know her that well,”

“Hey, you don’t need to defend it to me!” Rey snapped, “You go, have a good time. You should probably get ready. Don’t want to be late…for your date,”

His mouth flapped uselessly as he scrambled to find the words, to make her understand that it wasn’t a ' _date'_ date and that Kaydel meant less than nothing to him. Rey turned to walk away, Ben following with his protests until she disappeared, and he found himself walking straight into the wall she had vanished into.

Sighing, he ran his hand over the smooth plaster.

_Well done Solo…_

He got ready in silence, showering and changing into a pair of dark jeans and a black sweater, only preparing enough that he looked presentable without seeming like he’d made any special effort. Grabbing his coat, he didn’t see Rey again until he was moments from leaving, the spirit sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest. Glancing at him, she offered a small smile.

“Hey,” he said gently, the silence charged between them as she looked him up and down.

“Hi,”

“So…I’m going to go,” he muttered, Rey nodding.

“Have a good time,” she said quietly. Awkwardly, Ben pulled on his coat, still staring at the spectre on his sofa.

“Do you need me to…” he gestured towards the TV, Rey shaking her head as she picked up the remote.

“I got it,” she said softly, waving the remote in the air. Ben nodded gawkily.

“Alright, well…I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said, turning towards the door.

“Ben?”

“Yeah?” Rey sighed deeply.

“You look really handsome,”

00000

The bar Kaydel had chosen was loud.

If he had been more enthusiastic about his night, he would have offered to pick her up. He’d have turned up at her door and taken her somewhere nice, maybe he’d have brought her flowers and delight in the smile she’d give him.

Instead Ben found himself walking into some trendy bar in Manhattan where the lights were too low, the music was a fraction too loud and the people nothing but fake. Clearly this wasn’t the type of place for conversation.

Kaydel waved to him from a booth at the side, her long blonde hair pulled into a tight, high ponytail and her body poured into a bodycon dress that was so tight it looked like it had been painted on. Sliding into the booth, she smiled at him widely with red painted lips.

“Ben, I’m so glad we’re finally doing this,” she purred, her stiletto nails shining in the neon lights of the bar. Ben smiled tightly.

“Yeah, you’ve been asking long enough,” he said flippantly, ignoring the flash of a frown that appeared on her face. Quickly, she set herself again, smiling at him seductively as he ordered a double scotch. If any night called for strong liquor it was going to be this one.

“And I said to Jessika, ‘Oh my God. You can’t let him treat you like that!’ and Jessika said to me…wait, you know Jessika, right? Jessika Pava from HR? Anyway…”

_I don’t care. I do not care._

It turned out that it was easy to stay fairly silent as the evening progressed. Ben had worked out early that the trick was to treat Kaydel like a wind-up toy. He would simply drop in a subject and allow the girl to ramble on, talking about whatever came into her head.

Ben sat leaning his head on his fist, his elbow balanced on the table as she continued rabbit on, hoping his face didn’t betray how bored he felt, the bass of the music pounding in his skull. Try as he might, every time he felt his mind wandering back to the brunette specter in his apartment.

He wondered what she was doing now. Maybe she did start watching Casper? Maybe she was near the end of the movie when Casper was dancing with Kat, asking if he could keep her.

_Come on Ben, can I keep you?_

He eyes were on Kaydel but held no focus. All he could see was Rey. The way her smile lit up her face when she was happy, how her laugh brought a chortle to his own lips. She’d curl up on the sofa, watching her terrible shows as they ran a commentary on them together. Sometimes at night, he’d open an eye to look at her, even though he knew she wasn’t really sleeping, she always kept hers closed and basked in the otherworldly glow she possessed, he could have sworn he was looking at an angel.

Staring at the girl he had no interest in, her words droning into nothing, a pang of realization hit him square in the chest.

_Holy shit…_

“Hey, do you watch House Hunters?” he interrupted suddenly. Kaydel blinked at him, disarmed by the question.

“No,” she snorted, “Why would I watch that, it’s lame!”

“Come on, it’s kinda funny? You know, the guy wants a loft in Manhattan while the girl wants some kind of beach hut and they have about seven dollars between them, but the host has to find them something anyway?” Kaydel stared at him like he’d dribbled down his shirt, her laugh nasal and unpleasant.

“I would _never_ watch that show,” she snorted, “but you know what I do love…The Real Housewives of New York…”

_And there it is…_

“I’m not feeling too great,” Ben muttered, “I think I’m going to head home,”

“Oh…okay, well I’ll come with you,” Kaydel said suddenly, jumping from her seat to follow him out of the bar.

“You really don’t have to…”

“I insist! I’ll be happier knowing you got home safe,” she said, hailing a cab for them both.

_Because I’m not a 30-year-old man who can take care of himself…Jesus take the wheel…_

00000

“You _really_ didn’t have to walk me to my door,” Ben stressed, trying his best to get to his apartment as quickly as his legs would allow, “There isn’t much to see…it’s probably a mess,”

“Nonsense! I couldn’t wait to see your new place. It’s in such a lovely area,”

_And my roommate is quite something…_

Bracing himself, he turned the key in the lock, pushing the door open.

“Ben?” He winced at the sound of her beautiful accent calling his name, Rey where she always was, peering around from her place on the sofa, “I really hope that’s you…”

“Oh, my goodness, Ben, you weren’t lying. This place is stunning!” Kaydel gushed, pushing her way past him at the door and wandering into the living room to take it all in. Rey sat frozen, her shocked eyes locked on the very much alive woman standing in the center of the room, “You left the TV on?”

“You brought her home…” Rey muttered, “Well, I can see your _date_ went better than expected. Put a sock on the door or something, I’ll stay in the linen closet,” Ben shook his head, pleading silently to the phantom that it wasn’t at all what it looked like.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” He said, exaggerating a yawn and stretching his arms out, “Ooft, it is getting late. I am beat…”

“Ben, it’s nine thirty?” Kaydel frown, Rey burying her face in her palm.

“Don’t kick the breather out on my behalf…” The ghost muttered as she moved to leave, frowning at Kaydel.

Boldly, the blonde approached him, her hand spreading over his chest as she gazed up at him through her thick, false lashes, her perfume penetrating his nose.

“Aren’t you going to make some coffee?” she purred, leaning into him as he pulled himself back.

“Listen, Kaydel, you’re really nice but I’m just not really in that kind of place right now,” he said tightly, trying his best to wriggle out of her grasp. For someone far smaller, she reminded him of a python, slowly squeezing her prey once she had them in her grasp.

“Don’t be silly Ben, you and I both know that you want this,” she said huskily, his hands grabbing her wrists to push her away, “You’re single, I’m single…what’s the harm in a little bit of fun?”

There was no telling the girl. He wasn’t sure what kind of night she thought she’d had but the date he went on was hardly lighting the city on fire. Now he was holding her back from kissing him with an expression that begged for help.

Suddenly Kaydel screamed, stumbling into him as a book was launched across the room, smacking the woman directly between the shoulder blades.

“Haven’t you ever heard of consent, bitch!” Rey shouted, standing ramrod straight with an irate scowl on her face and a book in her hand.

Kaydel spun around, paling when she looked in Rey’s direction.

“Be…Ben, there’s a book floating in your apartment!” she cried in horror, the inanimate object in Rey’s hand the only thing Kaydel could see.

“Yeah and this book is going to be getting thrown in your face if you don’t back off!” Rey snapped viciously, Ben blinking in astonishment at her declaration.

“Are you telling me you don’t see this?!” Kaydel wailed, quivering from head to toe, a nasty mark already forming on her bare back.

“Um…no,” Ben shrugged, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

“There is a _book_ floating in front of us!”

“Is there?” he quipped, “Huh. Weird,”

Rey smirked, glancing at the book in her hand before launching it across the room, the volume smashing against the wall and landing on the floor with a thud. Kaydel jumped with a shriek, cowering away from the book as if it was a rabid animal.

“What the hell is going on in here?!” She cried hysterically. Ben continued his nonchalance.

“Nothing, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you alright? Maybe you’re tired,” Kaydel nodded, suddenly pressing herself against him, Ben flinching at the sudden contact, his arms in the air as Kaydel wrapped around his body.

“That does it!” Rey growled, marching through to the kitchen, grabbing a stray bottle of water. Kaydel watched in horror as a lone plastic bottle floated from the other room of its own accord, the cap unscrewing and falling to the floor.

“Holy shit…HOLY SHIT! Ben how are you not seeing this!?”

“Seeing what?”

Rey grinned, bobbing the bottle in front of the girl.

“Could I be so cruel?” she wondered to herself, wondering if she had gone too far. Ben looked at Rey with a curious glint in his eye.

“Hey, what was it you said about House Hunters being lame?”

“She said _what_?” Rey gasped, suddenly tipping the bottle, the cold-water spraying all over the other woman, Ben caught in the crossfire, “House Hunters is a very informative show!”

Kaydel screamed bloody murder, the water soaking her to the skin, dripping from her hair, her make up running down her face reminding Ben of a sad Picasso painting as she scrambled to grab her purse and run from the apartment, the front door swinging on its hinges behind her. Idly, Ben sauntered to close it, turning the locks.

Returning, he saw Rey standing there with a sheepish expression, chewing her bottom lip.

“I might have gone a little overboard,”

Unbidden, a deep rumbling laugh bubbled up from his gut, his arms holding his sides as he did, stray droplets of water still dripping from his hair.

“I’m sorry!” Rey insisted, “I really just…I don’t know what I was thinking!”

“Don’t be,” Ben chuckled, wiping his watering eyes, “That was fucking hilarious!”

“So that was your date huh?” Ben nodded, a warm smile on his face.

“That was my date,” he confirmed, “After this somehow I don’t think she’ll be asking for a second one,”

“Well then…maybe you’ll meet someone else,” Rey said forcing a smile. The sadness penetrating her voice was not lost on him, his chest fluttering as he shook his head.

“It’s not even ten yet. Do you still want to watch that movie?” he asked, swiftly changing the subject. Rey nodded happily, her smile genuine.

Toweling off his damp hair and quickly changing into some sweats, he met her on the sofa, sitting as close together as they could without her physically blending into him. Ben finally relaxed for the first time all night in the glow of the TV.

“Rey?”

“Yes, Ben?”

“Were you…jealous?” he asked quietly, turning his head to look at her as she stared at the screen. Casper had just met Kat, insisting that he was a friendly ghost. Rey smiled.

“Yes,”

“Alright, good to know,” he answered lightly, looking back at the TV. His hand was so close to hers, the strange static buzzing against his skin sending butterflies to his gut.

“Ben?”

“Yes, Rey?”

“Can I keep you?”

_Forever and ever sweetheart…_


	5. If There's No-One Beside You When Your Soul Embarks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was in love with a ghost.
> 
> This was his life now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A second update in the same day?!
> 
> Yes, and for a few reasons. This story is in my head and it's begging to get out, so I'm enthusiastic. Secondly, my first trimester exams are starting soon so if this story is completed before Halloween I can study without distraction!
> 
> Please keep those lovely comments coming, they make my life!
> 
> *Trigger warning - please see tags. It's not bad in this chapter but it IS coming*

[](https://imgur.com/TRSiA59)

He was in love with a ghost.

This was his life now.

As he sat at his desk, absently replying to the multitude of emails that had piled up in his inbox, Ben pondered the cruel hand fate had dealt him. Was it karma for all the arguments with his family? He shook his head, scowling at his inner thoughts. Surely it couldn’t be, much to Bazine’s chagrin, he had made peace with his parents years before they passed away and in the end, their relationship had been a happy one. One of the last things he had told his mother Leia was that she was right, and he was getting divorced.

He had never seen her smile so brightly.

He had wanted to tell Rey the truth but what good would that do? It wasn’t like they could be together. She was dead and that was all there was to it. Rey didn’t belong in his world, she was meant for something greater and if he loved her as much as he thought, even though it would hurt to say goodbye, he would help her reach her happiness.

“Ben, I just wanted to say I really loved that piece you did on the New York ballet’s performance of Don Quixote. Great work,” Phasma smiled, standing over his desk, her coffee in hand, “You seem like you’re doing better!”

“I am,” he said happily, “I worked through some stuff,”

“Good,” Phasma smiled, mirth sparkling in her cool blue eyes, “I received a very interesting email from Kaydel the other day. It seems like she’s going to be taking some time off work. Something about stress,”

“Is that right?” Ben commented, continuing to stare at his computer screen to avoid Phasma’s amused face, “That’s a shame,”

“How did your date go?” she asked, “Did she seem out of sorts?”

_Only after being assaulted with a book and soaked to the skin by Casper the jealous sarcastic specter…_

“Um, nope…she seemed fine if not very self-absorbed,” he shrugged flippantly. Phasma sipped her coffee, Ben still locked in her sights.

“So, I take it there won’t be a second?” Ben shook his head, finally releasing the keyboard to look at his friend.

“No, there will not,” he said firmly, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, it’s just that in her email she was quite detailed! Something about a floating water bottle…” she chuckled, “Can you imagine?!” Ben hoped that the tick of a smile that tugged at the corner of his lips wasn’t obvious as he schooled his face into looking surprised.

“No. No, I cannot,”

“Anyway, it’s almost lunch. I wanted to see if you fancied joining me at Nico’s deli?” she asked, “I could murder for a pastrami on rye!”

“Ah, I can’t today I’m actually meeting someone,” Ben apologized. Phasma raised her eyebrows with interest.

“Really? Am I allowed to ask who?”

“It’s kind of weird,” Ben said uncomfortably, his nose wrinkling, “The person who lived in my apartment before, it’s one of their friends,”

“Oh, what do you need them for?”

_I need to speak to them to find out if there’s a reason the ghost I’m in love with is stuck here…_

“The apartment came with some of her things,” he lied, “I’m just trying to find out where I should put them or if there’s someone I should give them to,” Phasma nodded.

“Alright, well you’ll be missing out on a great sandwich!” she grinned, “I’ll grab you something for later if you’d like,”

“That sounds great,” He smiled, checking his watch, “Speaking of, if I don’t get moving I’m going to be late!”

Ben pushed himself away from his desk, grabbing his coat to make his way out into the city. Pulling his phone from his pocket he checked the name on the email.

_Finn Thompson_

00000

It had taken some work.

Initially Ben hadn’t wanted to let Rey know that he was meeting her friend, but it soon occurred to him that he wasn’t sure how he would even begin to find the man. Tentatively, under the guise of casual conversation, he had asked her a little more about her life, genuinely wanting to know but also needing the scraps of information.

“I mean, I wasn’t really close with a lot of people,” she shrugged, “but I loved Finn, he was the best. He was my roommate for a while before he met his boyfriend Poe. I wish I was still around to see him get married,”

A name and a lot of searching later, Ben had finally found the correct Finn. Rey being omnipresent meant that he couldn’t conduct his search at home, taking full advantage of the office and his journalistic resources. It wasn’t exactly ethical, but then he wasn’t exactly in an everyday situation either.

He’d deal with his morals another day.

Walking into the coffee shop, he spied a man sitting alone in the corner, his phone in one hand as his thumb flicked over the screen.

“Finn Thompson?” Ben asked. The dark man looked up, putting his phone on the table and smiling politely, “Hi, I’m Ben Solo. We spoke on the phone?”

“Hey, good to see you,” Finn said, shaking Ben’s hand before he sat down.

“Thank you for meeting with me. I know this all must seem a little strange,”

“You know, when you told me you were a journalist I almost said no,” Finn commented, “but then you told me that you’d bought Rey’s apartment, and something told me I should hear what you have to say,” Ben nodded with a small smile.

“It’s appreciated,” he said, “Really, I wanted to ask you a bit more about her,” Finn looked surprised.

“Oh, I assumed you had some of her things,” he replied, “I mean…what do you want to know?” Ben shrugged. Really, he wanted to know everything, every little detail, but being a stranger asking someone about their recently deceased friend, he decided to err on the side of caution.

“How did you two meet? She was English, right?” Finn nodded, his eyes wary but he spoke never the less.

“She answered my ad looking for a roommate. She’d just moved here straight after college and needed a place to stay,” he said, “She was…quiet, I guess, but it didn’t take long for her to become my best friend. Rey was good like that, she had a way of making people feel at ease. Once she let you in, that was it,”

“Did have a lot of friends? A big circle?” Finn shook his head.

“No, she liked to keep to herself mainly. She had acquaintances, people from work and stuff but I think I might have been her only real connection. I felt so guilty when I met my fiancé, she didn’t take it well, suddenly having to share. She didn’t have family back in England, grew up in the foster system. My biggest regret is not thinking more of her feelings more when I moved out,”

_Oh, Rey…_

“Did she take it badly?” Ben asked, watching the man open up before him as he spoke of his friend.

“I think she was afraid, honestly. She wasn’t angry, she was just really sad. I tried to set her up with people, but nobody was ever really for her, you know? But I think she just didn’t want to be alone,”

Ben nodded again, fighting the ache in his chest at Finn’s story. His beautiful, witty, bright girl, so afraid of being alone but with walls that wouldn’t let anyone in.

“I helped her pick out that place and I tried to visit as much as I could, but it wasn’t the same,” Finn said sadly.

“Was there anything she ever talked about doing all the time?” Ben pressed curiously, “Dreams? Hopes?”

Finn’s jaw clenched, his eyes taking on a sudden hardness as his back straightened.

“What is this about?” he asked sternly, “Why are you asking me all this?” Ben flinched, carding his hand through his hair to push the tresses from his face.

_In for a dime, in for a dollar…_

“This is going to sound crazy, I know it does,” he said cautiously, “But…Rey is still here,” Finn blinked at him.

“I’m sorry?”

“Rey, she’s still here,” Ben said quietly, “She’s haunting the apartment and I think she can’t cross over because of unfinished business,”

Finn remained silent. His eyes fell to the table, brows knitted as he picked up his coffee, Ben watching as he took a sip, the only sound the clink on the porcelain as he put the mug back on the saucer. For a moment Ben wondered if he was about to be punched in the face.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Finn snarled, finally looking back to Ben, his mouth a grim line. Ben shook his head.

“No! I swear, I’m not messing with you…”

“Because I’ve had to talk to a lot of reporters and journalists and _this_ might be the most ridiculous and hurtful thing I’ve had said to me,” he said, “Hasn’t she already been through enough? Let the girl rest in peace for fuck sake!”

_I’m TRYING to…_

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…I didn’t know you’d already been questioned. I don’t know anything about her or how she even died,” Finn continued to scowl.

“Aren’t you a journalist? It was all over the news,” Finn snapped, “Don’t you read your own paper?”

Ben paused, a sudden embarrassment washing over him. Sure, he was a journalist, but his focus was on the arts. When it came to current affairs and crime news, he was woefully isolated by his own choosing.

“I mean…I do but…”

“But let me guess, there’s so much crime in this city that one news story just rolls into another,” Finn said bitterly, “Well let me tell you, behind those stories are _real people_. The news keeps on moving but the people still have to deal with their grief long after it falls out of the public eye. You know why I didn’t want to meet you at the apartment? Because I can’t handle it,”

“Please tell me what happened,” Ben pleaded softly, “I need to know,” Finn sighed heavily.

“She was murdered,” he choked, his eyes watering, “You’re a journalist, I’m sure you can figure out the rest. You found me easily enough,”

His throat tight, Ben couldn’t find it in him to reply as Finn stood, throwing a few bills down and silently walking away from the table leaving him alone. Reminding himself to breathe, Ben closed his eyes inhaling in and out steadily, willing his erratic heartbeat to calm.

It hadn’t been some tragic accident, a split-second mistake with awful consequences. She hadn’t been betrayed by her body, contracting a sickness that she just wasn’t strong enough to fight.

Someone had taken her life away.

Seething, Ben left the coffee shop.

00000

“Hey Mitaka, how you are doing?” Ben asked shakily, approaching the journalist’s desk. Mitaka looked up from his work with a smile that was far too cheery for a man who reported on violent crimes almost every day.

“Ben Solo! We don’t see you around these parts often? I’m good man, how are you?”

“Yeah, um, I’m good,” he answered quickly, “Listen, I’m looking to get some information about something. A couple of weeks ago, did you run any stories about a girl that was murdered? Rey Jackson?” Mitaka shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his smile failing.

“Come on, you know we don’t print victim names when it’s that kind of thing…privacy and respect,”

“What kind of thing?” Ben asked anxiously. Mitaka winced

“Look, yeah we did run that story. It was a cut and dry case, police have a guy in custody,” he said, “Why?”

“Just…looking into something,” Ben said, “Can you email me what you’ve got?” Mitaka nodded warily.

“Sure, I’ve still got everything here. Do you want all of it? It’s pretty graphic, man,” He wanted to say no, to tell the man that it didn’t matter. He could go home at the end of the day, watch House Hunters and pretend that everything was fine, but nothing could erase what he knew now.

“Yeah, please. Right away, if you can,” Mitaka nodded, clicking his mouse a few times.

“Done. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

By the time Ben reached his own desk the email icon on his computer was flashing, Mitaka having kept his word. Sitting, he reached for the mouse to open the documents. Immediately his desktop was flooded with writing and images.

**_Woman, 25, found murdered in New York alley_ **

_New York Police have launched a murder investigation after a woman approximately aged 25 was found._

_The body was discovered at an alley next to a nightclub in the Hell’s Kitchen area at around 5:30am local time on Sunday the 7th of October._

_A man in his 30s has been arrested after CCTV footage caught him leaving the area shortly before and he remains in custody._

_A post-mortem was completed showing that the victim died by asphyxiation and showed signs of possible sexual assault. The results have been passed onto relevant authorities._

He read it once. Twice. Three times. A crushing pressure wound itself tightly around his head, pushing his temples inward as his hands trembled, his jaw clenched so tightly he was certain he could hear the grinding of his back teeth mingled with the pounding of his own heartbeat.

The images were worse. How Mitaka had so many he had no idea. The alley was filthy in the early light of the New York morning, saturated in the sins the city tried in vain to keep hidden. He couldn’t see her face, the small mercy that it was, but what he could see caused bile to rise in his throat.

Close up pictures of purple marks blooming across a slender neck, a body covered in a white clinical sheet as police combed the area, blood marks on the ground, scratch marks on bare thighs. Abruptly he shut off the screen, shoving himself back from the desk as he grabbed for the waste paper bin, his stomach heaving.

Gasping for breath, he wiped his mouth when Phasma approached his desk.

“Jesus Ben, you look terrible! Go on, get yourself home. I didn’t realize you were feeling unwell,” she said concerned.

Ben nodded mutely, his whole body still shaking.

00000

Heavy.

Every part of his body felt heavy, like walking through water as he made his way to his door. The initial disgust had made way for something far darker, waves of fury pulsing through his blood as he replayed the images over and over in his mind, the words ‘asphyxiation’ and ‘sexual assault’ pushing him to drive his hand into the nearest wall of the building’s hall. The old tenement plaster crumbled under the sudden pressure, his knuckles split and throbbing as he collapsed in broken sobs.

Rose had been right. She had died alone and terrified. Her body had been left on the cold, damp street like she was no more than a stray piece of paper. The thought rendered him in two, leaving him raw and helpless on the stone floor.

_Get up…_

Pulling himself together, Ben wiped his eyes on his coat, leaning heavily on the banister as he climbed. Steeling himself, he opened the door.

“Hey! You’re just in time. This couple is trying to find a house in the Hamptons and they only have a budget of 100k and they keep arguing, it’s hilarious,” Rey exclaimed as he wearily walked into the living room, staring at her with pained eyes.

“Ben, what’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost!” she joked, sticking her tongue between her teeth but slowly her bright smile faded. Ben shook his head unsteadily.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered softly, “Nothing,”

“It doesn’t look like nothing. What’s happened? Have you been crying?” she asked, “Holy shit, what happened to your hand?!”

“I told you, it’s nothing,” Ben said with a little more force, turning towards the bedroom. Away, he had to get away, “Just leave it,”

“No! You’re going to tell me what’s wrong. Come back!” Rey demanded, reaching out to grab him.

He’d expected cold, that same chilling shock that passed whenever she touched him. A dull slap of a hand landing solidly on his shoulder caused them to jump, Ben twirling around to face her in shock as Rey leaped backward staring at her fingers.

“Did you just…”

“I think I did,” she breathed, “I…I think I just felt you. Just the shape of you but solid and clear,”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know…” Rey wondered, still staring at her hand. Her eyes moved to his, holding him firmly in her gaze as she slowly extended her hand to him.

His fingers trembled as much as hers bringing his own hand forward cautiously, waiting for the inevitable pass through and the shiver that would come with it. It was all in his mind, it had to be. He was upset, stressed and couldn’t hold onto the hope that it was true because if it wasn’t…

But as the tips of his fingers grazed hers, a shock prickling his skin at the first initial contact, he felt her, solid and real in front of him. Not so warm but not cold either, the same fizzing sensation he was used to from her running along his arm. His lip quivered, a tight pressure pushing behind his eyes as they watered, flicking between the point their hands met and her face.

But her eyes weren’t looking at him. They were far, so far away, tears leaving silvery marks down her cheeks. This was something good, wasn’t it? So why was she staring ahead with such unbridled agony that it threatened to tear him apart all over again?

“Rey?”

“I remember everything…”

 


	6. Two Lost Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I remember everything..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Trigger warning: Chapter contains mentions male on female violence and sexual assault. It's not very graphic, but it is there and some people may find this disturbing or triggering. Please read at your own discretion and don't say I didn't leave a warning. Rey's flashback is in italics and it will not make a difference to the story if you decide to skip it. I will not hold it against you if you do!**
> 
>  
> 
> Grab your tissues folks...I think I made this angsty...

[](https://imgur.com/JJ3vjrm)

“I remember everything…”

_“Hey! Are we still on for tonight?”_

_“Ah…sorry, Peanut, I can’t. Poe’s parents just turned up and surprised us. They want to take us to dinner to talk about the wedding. I’ll need to take a rain check,”_

_Rey tries to not sigh hearing Finn’s apologetic excuse over the phone._

_“Oh…sure, yeah. No problem. I understand!” she says with mock cheer, “Can’t help it when the in-laws show up…I get it,”_

_“I promise, next week, we’ll do something just you and me. I swear!” Rey would believe him if these excuses weren’t becoming more and more frequent. She doesn’t begrudge him his relationship, his happiness, but it stings a little more each time._

_“It’s fine! I’m fine!” she insists just a little too much, “Have a wonderful time and tell me all about it next week,”_

_“You’re the best! Speak soon,”_

_“Bye,”_

_Putting her phone down, she sits back in her chair, drumming her fingers against her office desk. Sooner or later she is going to have to realize that Finn can’t be her only connection to life. Would letting someone, anyone, else in be so bad? How many times has her therapist spoken to her about social connections, about letting people in?_

_Friendships rarely last. That’s what her childhood taught her. Growing up being bounced from home to home, people become temporary. Friendships lasted as long as a placement until eventually, she learned that not getting attached at all is less painful than the constant separation. Finn is the first person she’s told any of this to, the first to actually listen to her._

_And now even he too is leaving._

_She huffs a laugh at how ridiculous she knows she’s being. He’s her friend, he deserves to have a life, to love and grow. Seeing them together, she realizes that her feelings come not only from sadness but a deep-rooted envy because Finn has what she wants, the only thing she ever really wanted._

_Love._

_Absently staring at the calculations on the table, Rey doesn’t see Ahsoka approach._

_“Hey girl, why the sad face?” the girl asks with a pout. Rey glances up from her work, fixing a tight smile on her face. Ahsoka is beautiful. Long black hair, olive skin, and beautiful big green eyes. She radiates confidence wherever she goes and if she wasn’t such a lovely person, Rey is sure she would hate her._

_“Ah, it’s nothing, just…Finn canceling plans for tonight,” she shrugs, “No big deal,”_

_“Well, obviously it is a big deal!” Ahsoka says, “Forget him, a few of us are heading out. Why don’t you come with? Get dressed up, have a few drinks, a dance…come on, it’ll be fun!”_

_Rey regards Ahsoka pensively. Going out has never really been her thing, but Ahsoka is nice, friendly and always tries even when Rey acts so closed off. Isn’t that the type of person she should want to be friends with? She nods._

_“Alright, sure, why not!” Rey shrugs. Ahsoka grins widely, clapping her hands in glee._

_“Awesome! It’s this great new place in Hell’s Kitchen called ‘Starkiller’ and they have the sickest DJ!” Ahsoka enthuses, “I’ll message you the details!”_

_Dressing for the night, Rey feels dread in the pit of her stomach. She wishes she was wearing sweats and watching trashy TV instead. The dress she has on feels just a little too short, a little too tight, her feet cantilevered at a ridiculous angle on her heels while her face has been plastered with more make-up than she’s ever worn before. She doesn’t look like herself._

_She isn’t sure if that’s a good or a bad thing._

_From the moment she walks into Starkiller she knows this isn’t the place for her. It’s loud, the bass rumbling through the walls, neon lights illuminating the dance floor, casting shadows in corners where drunk couples hide. Everyone is laughing, shouting, dancing as she stands surrounded by people yet alone. Completely and utterly alone._

_Alcohol isn’t working the way it should. Sighing, Rey checks her phone. 2:30 am. If there’s one thing she knows it’s that she isn’t going to meet her soulmate here in this club in Hell’s Kitchen. She wants to work on her social issues, she wants to be more open but there will be plenty of time for that another day when her feet aren’t killing her, and condensation isn’t dripping from the ceiling. What is wrong with being an introvert anyway? Nothing._

_She nods with determination, grabbing her coat from the cloakroom and making her way out into the chilly New York night. With any luck, an Uber isn’t too far away._

_The balls of her feet burning, on coltish legs she begins to walk towards where she’s instructed the cab to pick her up, oblivious to the world around her._

_It happens so fast. A hand over her mouth stifles a scream as her phone drops to the ground, the screen cracking on impact. Kicking and wriggling as much as she can she’s dragged back from the safety of the streetlights. Fear swallows her before she has a chance to make sense of it all, the air is driven from her lungs as she’s thrown against the brick wall, her bare knees scraping when she hits the ground_

_“Please don’t hurt me!” she begs frantically, “Take my bag, my purse…take whatever you want!”_

_The man is cruel. He grabs her by the throat, her shoes thrown from her feet as her toes barely scrape the ground, gasping for breath. His body presses her tightly against the wall. She’s screaming for help but it’s just another voice in the night of the city and as his hands roughly paw at her body, scraping her bare thighs, ripping her dress, she knows nobody is coming for her._

_But she has to try. Her teeth sink into his hand so hard she tastes the acrid copper of his blood. He screams in pain as she frees her mouth, screaming once more and praying that someone, anyone will look down the alley he’s dragged her._

_No-one does. Her reward is a solid punch to the face, her head spinning, but she finally sees him._

_He’s nobody, a stranger, and she wonders for the briefest moment if that makes it all better or worse._

_Underwear is torn, she can hear him grunting in her ear, his hands wrapped tightly around her throat as she closes her eyes and wills it all to be over. It’s getting harder to breathe, the pressure increasing on her windpipe as she’s violated._

_He is nobody._

_She is alone, afraid, and as a bright light appears behind her eyes, Rey realizes so is she._

00000

She was shaking. Violently.

She was shaking, tears cascading down her distraught face and he didn’t know what to do.

“Rey, it’s going to be okay…” Ben said softly. She gripped her temples like the world was too loud, shaking her head from side to side, her eyes screwed tightly as a strangled wail erupted from her throat, dropping to her knees.

“No, it’s not!” she cried, her voice choked and thick with her anguish, “I was alone, I needed help, and nobody came…nobody cared! I…I’d forgotten what it was like to…to be me and it was nice you know? To just…forget what my life was like, and now? Now I remember every little bit of it and I can _feel_ his hands around my throat…”

“Rey…”

“It’s my fault. It was my fault because _I_ pushed people away. I didn’t give anyone a chance then I blamed other people for my life…and this is my punishment. I deserved this…”

“No! You didn’t…Please, Rey…”

“And the worst part? The worst part is that dying didn’t scare me…that fucking light was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen because it made me think that I finally wasn’t going to be alone anymore. I want that perfect beach house, I want that…but I want someone there who loves me,”

In the space of a heartbeat, he was across the room, on his knees to wrap her in his arms, pulling her tightly against his chest as she shook. Blinking rapidly, his vision blurred, and it wasn’t until he felt the damp on his own skin that he realized he was crying with her, his hand stroking her hair as he mumbled soothing nothings, rocking her gently.

“I came from nothing, I died for nothing…because that’s what I was,” she whispered, a broken sound against his chest. He shook his head firmly, pulling her back so she could see the naked truth in his eyes.

“Not to me,” he said softly, his own voice wavering, “You’re everything to me,”

“I don’t understand…”

“I love you,” he said simply, watching her as she gazed up at him with watery uncertain eyes, “You are everything to me and I need you to believe that. I love you,”

His lips swallowed her sob, the first contact electrifying every nerve in his body as she molded to him, her arms winding around his neck, fingers scraping against his scalp as his tongue caressed hers. Still enraptured in their kiss, she moved suddenly, pushing him back to straddle his hips where he sat, teeth nipping at his bottom lip. She holds him as if she’s clinging to a rock in a stormy sea, Ben steadfast and stable, anchoring her to his world.

She was upset. This wasn’t what she needed, Ben reluctantly breaking their contact for her own good as her adept hands pushed their way under his coat, attempting to pull the garment from his shoulders.

“Rey, stop…” he tried to tell her that he didn’t want to hurt her, that she was distraught, she wasn’t in her right mind but her fingers on his lips, tingling against his skin, stopped him.

“Don’t think,” she whispered softly, “Just love me, Ben,”

He did love her. She wound herself through the fabric of his being to the point he didn’t know where he even began anymore. His every waking thought was of Rey and her smile, her beautiful, bright personality and how, somehow, she had made him better.

He could think another day.

Capturing her lips again, he pulled her to her feet, allowing her to take the lead as she pushed him towards his bedroom, his coat already lost. Their movements were frantic, rushed as items of clothing began to litter the floor, Rey pushing Ben to the bed and climbing atop his lap, gasping as his rapidly stiffening cock brushed her folds, his tongue swirling against the soft skin of her neck.

Warming under his attention, he looked at her in awe, her skin glowing faintly and with every touch she gave him, she left a tingling sensation in her wake. Kissing her ardently, he rolled her to her back, his limbs bracketing her in while he gazed down at her, taking in every inch of her perfect body. Long slender legs met a nipped in waist like she was made just for him.

“I love you,” he declared, “So much…”

“Show me,”

A challenge. A plea. She gasped at the sensation of his touch, his dextrous fingers running along her soaked slit, her back arching against him as whispers of _please_ spilled from her lips.

“I love you,”

Precious words whispered against trembling lips as he pushed into her so slowly, her tight heat holding him for everything he was worth. She was nirvana, heaven was the woman in his arms as he rocked into her, forehead against forehead, skin on skin.

She was defenseless under the intensity of his gaze, his dark eyes staring at her with a reverence she never knew, never felt she deserved. He was ripping down every barrier she had ever built, tearing away the darkness until there was nothing left but pure light.

He repeated the three words like a mantra, a prayer so sacred that it brought fresh tears to her eyes to finally know what it was to be given unbridled devotion. Pace increasing, his head falling to her shoulder as he worked into her with sharp, powerful thrusts, her fingers gripping into the meat of his shoulders, head thrown back in ecstasy.

Tilting her hips, she met his fevered thrusts, moaning as he bottomed out every time, hips snapping against hips, every touch grazing the sensitive, soaked hub of nerves until the tension grew too great. She screamed as she came, nails digging into his skin while she clung to him tightly as he followed with a long, low groan.

His heart beating wildly, he kissed away her tears and she tucked herself into the safety of his body. His aquiline nose stroking her temple, he whispered sweet nothings of devotion to her in the dulling light of the room.

Resting against his chest, she smiled pushing his messy hair from his face. Finally, everything made sense to her and for the first time, Rey knew what it was to feel loved.

00000

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep.

His exhausted body had finally given up on him, his eyes growing heavy in the afterglow, the comforting weight of Rey in his arms. Waking, he found her still lying on his chest looking up at him, her curious hazel eyes examining every detail of his face.

“Hi,” she said quietly, offering him a shy smile. Gently, he brought a hand to her hair, stroking the silken tresses.

“Hey,” he whispered, “How long as I out?”

“A few hours,” she smiled.

“Sorry. I guess I didn’t know how tired I was,” he said, “What were you doing?”

“Watching you,” she shrugged, her nose wrinkling in an adorable fashion that made Ben’s smile grow, “Sorry, that sounded weird,”

“Don’t be. You don’t sleep, it’s not your fault,” he said, “How do you feel?” Rey paused, pondering the loaded question.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly, “I thought about it a lot while you were sleeping. First, I was upset, then angry…then upset again, but I realized something…”

“What’s that?”

“It brought me to you,” she said simply, “and if I never get to heaven, I’ll spend eternity waiting for you,”

Ben stared at the precious girl lying in his arms, the strange glow from her skin illuminating the room, brighter for their time together, not a trace of the cold left in her body. He thought of his ex-wife, her cruel and selfish manner. Not once during their time together had she ever really done anything for him, their relationship one of convenience and time wasting.

It was true what they said, Ben didn’t really understand what true love was until he knew what it wasn’t. Now there was a beautiful being gazing at him with such devotion, telling him she would wait in perpetuity for him. It brought a lump to his throat.

“Maybe we’d have met eventually,” he said stroking her cheek, “I don’t think two people feel this way for nothing,” 

“What do we do now?” Rey asked quietly, “You can’t pretend this is normal by any means,”

Ben paused, his eyes searching her concerned face. It wasn’t normal. At all. If he told anyone he was in love with a ghost they’d strap him in a straitjacket and haul him to the nearest psych ward. Not that he would blame them. Lying there with her, he found it hard to care.

“We’ll…make it work? I guess,” Ben shrugged, “Whatever our souls are made of, I think yours and mine are the same,”

“Look at you, big guy, getting all poetic!” Ben shrugged bashfully, not willing to mention he’d stolen the quote from Emily Bronte.

“Well, I _am_ a writer…technically,” he drawled, stretching his worn muscles and feeling the satisfying pops along his spine, “Come on, you might not need to eat but some of us breathers do!” Rey giggled, pushing herself from his body to stand, grabbing her white lacy underwear and pulling her tee shirt on over her head.

“I wonder if I’m going to be stuck wearing the same outfit forever?” she mused happily, “Not that I mind, jeans and a tee shirt is a classic look!” Ben smirked, pulling on his boxers.

“You look beautiful no matter what,” he smiled, “Although, I think I prefer you wearing nothing at all,”

Blushing, Rey bit her lip, her smile giddy and relaxed. “You know…for the first time ever, I actually feel peaceful,” Ben sitting on the edge of the bed gazing at her in adoration, she stood between his knees, bending down to kiss him sweetly, “I love you, Ben,”

“I love you, Rey,”

Sucking in a sharp breath, Rey pulled away quickly, the smile on her face replaced with confusion and shock. Her hands grabbed at her chest as if she couldn’t breathe.

“Rey?! What’s wrong?”

“I…I don’t know…”

Faint golden light, glittering against her skin began to spread from her heart, her eyes far away as she stared at her hands.

“Its warm…everything is warm,” she gasped, looking ahead of her at something Ben couldn’t see, “Oh my God…I see it…”

“See what?” Ben asked frantically, jumping from the bed, holding her shoulders firmly, “Rey?”

“No…not now, please…I’m not ready,” she gasped, her eyes shining, “I just found you,”

The glow intensified, beautiful and comforting, wrapping itself around her body, the sparkling embers dancing in the air. Ben could only watch on as she shook her head, distraught.

“What is happening?!”

“You love me,” she choked sadly, “And I see the beach…”

“No,” Ben demanded, his own eyes prickling, “Don’t leave me. You can’t! Not now…” A sob caught in her throat, escaping unbidden as he grabbed her.

Desperately, he kissed her, memorizing the feel of her lips against his, the taste of her sweet breath as she gripped his body, her tears pressed against his cheek. Looking up at him, her eyes lost and wide, slowly she began to fade.

“I don’t want to go…”

Like a breeze blowing away shifting sands, her hands left his body first, evaporating into nothing leaving behind a golden trail. He tried to reach for her, his hold slipping through nothing as she disappeared before his eyes.

His breathing was the only sound, the light fading away as the absence of her presence left his world with nothing but shades of grey.

For the first time since he had arrived in the apartment, Ben was truly alone.

Rey had moved on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SWEAR THERE'S A HEA. THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING! I'LL MAKE IT BETTER!


	7. I'll Follow You Into The Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And Life Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had a lot of upset people in my inbox. I PROMISED I'D MAKE IT BETTER!
> 
> P.S WELL DONE to all those clever people who noticed my homage to Doctor Who and the 10th Doctor's regeneration at the end of the last chapter ;)

[](https://imgur.com/nOusXXX)

And life continued.

People still woke in the morning. They went to work, they ate their meals, they spoke with friends. The sun still rose and set. Time didn’t stop, and Ben resented it all.

For the first few days, he barely got out of bed. When Phasma called him, Ben eventually answering on her fifth attempt, he mumbled something to her about the death of a loved one. Immediately she told him to take as much time as he needed, sending her condolences. Dropping the phone, he pulled the comforter over his head, intent on shutting out the sunlight as much as he could.

He was being torn apart. In sleep he saw her, radiant and vibrant, smiling just for him. Sometimes they would be out in the world, hand in hand exploring all the things he wished he could have shown her. They would be curled on the sofa as they always had been, watching random nonsense on TV and waxing lyrical about anything that came into their heads.

Other times he felt her wrapped around his body, her naked skin sliding against his as she called his name in the darkness, raking her nails down his back, and he would wake feeling emptier than ever before, a chilling reminder than Rey was gone.

So, sleep began to elude him. He wouldn’t be able to see her if he stayed awake, that was the theory, and if he didn’t see her then perhaps the pain wouldn’t be so acute. As the days rolled into one, Ben began to wonder if maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him the whole time. Nobody else could see her, hear her. She was a phantom that only he knew in the safety of his own apartment. He had said to himself that she was perfect for him, had his loneliness manifested itself in such a way that he was conjuring a soulmate out of thin air?

The question didn’t bare answering.

He considered drinking. For the first few nights it helped, the dreamless sleep wasn’t perfect, but it was rest none the less and the jackhammer going off inside his head the next morning was a welcome distraction. When the bottle ran dry, he considered buying another until a worried phone call from Phasma got him thinking.

“You…you said that the idea of an afterlife helped with grief…after your grandfather died?” Ben asked, hearing Phasma sigh on the other end of the phone. He hadn’t been picking up and she was relieved to hear he hadn’t wasted away quite yet. She was the first person he’d spoken to in weeks.

“That’s right,” she echoed, “It’s a comfort to think that he’s somewhere better. I like to think our loved ones are watching over us. Just because someone’s body dies, it doesn’t mean their soul isn’t still living,”

He thought of Rey. Wherever she was, he wondered if she could see him and the mess he had become without her. Pulling himself from the bed, he wandered to the bathroom, inspecting himself in the mirror. The man staring back at him was someone he didn’t recognize.

Limp, greasy hair. Sallow skin and deep, dark circles under his eyes. His face was coated in weeks of facial hair, his goatee grown out and unrecognizable. Not to mention he had barely showered or changed his clothes. He was the definition of grief.

Leaning forward on the sink, he stared deep into his own eyes, “You’re a selfish asshole,” he growled into the mirror, his reflection sneering back at him.

She was in heaven. The place people strived to go their whole miserable lives. No pain, no poverty, hunger or sadness, just beauty, freedom, and peace. It was literally a better place and he wanted that for her right? Of course, he did, she deserved her serenity, but the self-centered part of him wished something he didn’t want to voice.

He would rather the woman he loved was _not_ in heaven.

“Selfish motherfucker,” he muttered to himself.

Enough was enough. If Rey was watching him, she would have been horrified by the way he was living. Take-out cartons and pizza boxes were piling up in his kitchen. His eating pattern hadn’t been on a schedule but when his stomach growled loudly, convenience was the order of the day. He would start with himself, then tackle his home.

He took the longest shower of his life, the steaming hot water almost scaling on his skin, but he welcomed the burn. It was nice to feel something other than numb. After came the razor, carefully removing the excess hair from his face and trimming his beard until all that was left was the neat goatee he used to sport. Tentatively he smiled at his reflection. He still looked like the shadow of the man he used to be but at least he was presentable enough to go outside.

“Is that better sweetheart?” he asked out loud, toweling his face, knowing he wouldn’t receive a reply but holding on to hope anyway. The silence hung in the air like smog and he hated the painful stab of disappointment.

Methodically he put the house back to rights, scrubbing the place from top to bottom until it looked almost the way it was the day he moved in.

He called Doctor Andor to schedule an appointment.

He called Phasma to tell her he was going back to work.

He fetched Maz her mail each morning.

And life continued.

00000

“So, Ben, it’s been a few weeks,” Doctor Andor comments without judgment, “Would you like to tell me what’s been going on?”

_You wouldn’t believe me if I told you…_

“The woman I told you about, she...died,” he conceded, the words feeling strange on his tongue. It wasn’t the truth but then, it wasn’t a lie either, “And I’ve not been dealing with it very well,”

“I see. I’m so sorry for your loss,” Doctor Andor said solemnly, “I understand that the death of a loved one is never easy but the fact you made the effort to come and see me is a positive step, I’m proud of you,”

Ben shrugged dispassionately. “I just…I didn’t get to say goodbye and I know it’s selfish because she deserves that peace, she deserves to be happy but…but…”

“But what?”

“I wanted to be the one to make her happy,” he declared, “We were both so similar, I didn’t even realize it…but the moment I knew it was like BAM,” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together for emphasis, “and I’m so fucking…angry that I’ll never get the chance,”

“Anger is a natural part of the grieving process,” Doctor Andor remarked gently, “Do you feel anger towards her?” Ben scowled.

“No! Fuck no, I just…I’m angry that _this_ was how things worked out. I found this beautiful person who was perfect in every way and…and we didn’t have enough time. It was complicated…”

_SO complicated…_

“but when I was with her that didn’t matter because for the first time in my life I felt happy. Really happy…and now I don’t know where I go from here. I just feel…lost,”

Doctor Andor scribble down some notes. “How have your thoughts been?”

“Thoughts?”

“Have you considered self-harm?” He questioned gently. Ben shifted uncomfortably in his seat, swallowing back the lump in his throat. He didn’t want to say it, but what was the point in coming here if he wasn’t going to be honest.

“Once or twice,” he admitted, “Fleeting thoughts, nothing that stayed around but I just…I thought maybe I could see her again,” Doctor Andor nodded.

“What was her name?”

“Rey,” Ben declared, “Her name was Rey,”

“Do you think Rey would have wanted that for you?” Ben shook his head immediately, the familiar sting nipping behind his eyes.

“No, no she wouldn’t…that’s why I didn’t,” he whispered thickly, “She’d tell me I was being stupid,” the laugh that followed was humorless and bitter, his hand raking through his hair, “Sometimes…I still talk to her,”

“What do you say?”

“Nothing important. I tell her about my day, things I’ve done, things on TV that I know she’d like…she really loved House Hunters and you know, I didn’t get it but now I do. I get it,” he sighed, “It helps…thinking that she’s listening,”

“That’s good,” Doctor Andor praised, “Everyone has their own methods of coping. There’s no shame in what you’re doing, it’s healthy. Did you go to the funeral?”

_The funeral that happened before we met…_

“Ah, no. No, I didn’t…” Once again, Doctor Andor nodded thoughtfully, jotting down his notes.

“From the sounds of things, you need to get some closure. You say that you weren’t ready to say goodbye. If you can, I want you to try,”

_Try…_

It felt like all he ever did was try anymore. From the moment he woke until he dragged himself from the sofa into his bed, everything was an effort, but for her, he would try.

Mutely, he nodded. Their time ran out and taking a deep breath, he booked an appointment for the same time the following week.

00000

The Fall weather was cold, the wind biting as he walked but the day was beautiful. Sunlight beamed down from a cloudless sky, shining through the trees, their oranges and yellows vibrant against the green of the grass.

The grounds were peaceful in their sombreness, the only sound the crisp leaves as they crunched under the heel of his boots. With his connections, it hadn’t taken long to find her and despite his pain, something soothed him knowing her final resting place was so calm. Finn’s doing, he supposed.

Her headstone was simple, the plot under the shade of some nearby trees. Plain white marble with a candle embedded in the front, her name in the stone with chilling permanence.

**_Rey Jackson_ **

**_1992-2018_ **

**_“Step softly, a dream lies buried here,”_ **

A twinge of a smile pulled at his lips, the writing blurring before his glassy eyes. He couldn’t have picked the words better himself. Heavying a sigh, his shoulders quaking with the effort, he gently laid the sunflowers he held in front of her grave.

 He opened his mouth to speak but the words felt stuck in this throat, his jaw snapping shut as he gave in to the crushing weight that had been resting on his chest since he woke. There was something unsettling knowing that her body, her real body lay six feet below because if she was here then that meant it had all been real.

_The good news is you’re not crazy…the bad news…_

Inhaling sharply, he braced himself. Talking to her at home was so much easier. It had been her space, _their_ space but out here, despite the fact he was alone, he had never felt so vulnerable.

“Hey sweetheart,” he whispered, “I’m sorry it took me so long. I’ve been dealing with some stuff…well, you know,”

Already he could picture her face, staring up at him with amusement as he stated the obvious. She’d have taken pleasure in his awkward manner, teased him about his inability to find the right words, her quick wit flustering him further.

“I miss you,” he mourned simply, “I don’t understand how someone can just come into your life like a fucking hurricane then leave…I want you back, I want you waiting for me when I come home. I need to accept that it’s not going to happen but…I can’t, I’m just not strong enough,”

Sniffing loudly, he drew a sharp inhale, the wind freezing against the damp on his cheeks.

“My world was beautiful when you were in it and now it’s grey,” he choked, “I wanted to follow you. I don’t want you to be alone anymore, but you know what? I don’t want to be alone either!”

What did he have now? An ex-wife who constantly tried to suck him dry, a job that he threw himself into to escape the tedium of his divorce, a handful of acquaintances save for Gwen. His parents had passed on peacefully. All he cherished now was that damn apartment.

“I’ll live though, for you,” he promised, “Because that’s what you would want, but…fuck, I love you so damn much. You said you’d wait an eternity for me…I can wait a lifetime for you,”

Suddenly he laughed. It was a strange sound to him, for once nothing hollow or fake about it.

“Hey, Halloween is in a few days. If you feel like haunting me, you know where I am,” he smiled sadly, “We can watch House Hunters…”

_Two people don’t feel this way for nothing…_

“Sleep tight, angel,”

00000

And life continued.

It hadn’t been the closure he had hoped for but seeing the beauty of her resting place brought him an odd sense of hope. Every day he still spoke to her, wishing her a good morning and telling her good night before he succumbed to sleep.

He began to eat better, forcing himself to cook meals instead of reaching for whatever junk he had lurking in the back of his pantry. Every morning he took himself out on a run around the block, allowing the blood in his veins and his elevated heartbeat to remind him that he was alive for another day.

The raw agony had slowly blunted to an ache that he carried with him like a weight, wondering if someday he wouldn’t feel it anymore. The thought alone was a somber one, the idea that if he wasn’t hurting then she would be forgotten.

Every time he opened his wallet, she smiled at him, her picture saved from the Facebook account he had found. Another reminder that she had been real. He wasn’t crazy.

Outside the office, the rain pounded against the floor to ceiling windows, the skies a grim shade of grey. Gwen was standing next to his desk, a patient, understanding smile on her face.

“All I’m saying is that it might be good for you to get out,” she reasoned, “It’s a small party. You don’t even have to wear a costume!”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll pass,” Ben answered, “But thanks anyway,” Gwen shrugged, relenting.

“Alright, can’t say I didn’t try,” she sighed, “How are you doing anyway? You do look better,”

“Getting along day by day,” he mused, “I might look better but I don’t know if I _feel_ any better. Not really,”

“Did you go to church as I suggested? I know you’re not really religious, but neither was I, it really helped my grief,”

Ben smirked, a chuckle in the back of his throat. “Um, no…I don’t think my local priest would be very happy to see me,” Gwen frowned in confusion.

“Why ever not?”

“Never mind,” he shrugged, “Listen, I’m going on a coffee run, do you want something?”

“Please!” Gwen grinned, “You know my usual,”

“Got it,”

The rain hammered against the sidewalk as he left the building, people running in all directions to avoid the downpour, newspapers, and briefcases held overhead in dramatic fashion.

_Calm down…it’s only water…_

Absently he walked, his hands shoved in his pockets as the droplets dripped through his dark hair, off the end of his nose, saturating his wool coat. His thoughts were of how he would need to dry the damn thing when he got back, how it would still be damp when he’d put it back on to go home and how Gwen would want her coffee black with two sugars.

Stepping from the sidewalk, he didn’t even see the car barrelling towards him.

Screaming. Some people were screaming but for the life of him, he couldn’t pinpoint where they were. The car's bumper collided with him first, his body bouncing from the bonnet to the windshield as the car halted abruptly, Ben landing on the solid, rain-soaked road.

It didn’t hurt. Not really. He stared at the grey sky, watching the water droplets fall fat and heavy on top of him, washing away the blood from the gash on his forehead. His eyes felt heavy, darkness creeping around the edge of his vision like a curtain finally falling.

The end of the act. No encore.

He tried to speak, his lips moving but no sound would come as people crowded around him. He promised. He promised he would live but now it was dark, it was cold, and he was afraid.

_I’m sorry…forgive me…_

“There’s my big guy,”

He gasped, his lungs sucking in crisp, clear air but he was warm again and when he opened his eyes he was met with the face of an angel. Her hazel eyes were bright and clear, her smile white and wide, a halo of light surrounding the body that stood over him.

He blinked. Once. Twice. Three times staring at her until he realized that her hand was outstretched. Fingers shaking, he grasped her palm as she pulled him to his feet. The world around them still moving but shaded, bathed in mist.

“Rey?” his voice shook, scarcely willing to believe that it was anything more than a dream, “Are you back?” She shook her head, smiling sadly.

“No, Ben. I’m not,” she answered, her eyes traveling behind him. He turned.

“Holy shit. Is that…me? Did I…” he stammered, unable to articulate the words. Rey nodded, her eyes pained.

“I’m sorry,” she confirmed, “It wasn’t supposed to be your time yet,”

If it was unsettling visiting her grave, watching himself lying on the ground, people panicking all around him as someone tried in vain to give him CPR, was positively mind-blowing. All it had taken was one second, one misstep and he was gone.

_I’m dead…and she’s here…_

Now, one second, one step and she was in his arms again. Whimpering against him, she clung fiercely, her hands in his hair as he captured her lips, kissing her with a desperation he’d never known, her touch igniting a spark in his soul as he felt the shock of life run through his body, rejuvenating what he once thought was lost when she departed. Finally, he felt balanced, baptized by her touch.

“I missed you,” she whispered, stroking his face, his hair, any part of him she could reach, tears running unchecked down her face, matching him. His breath shuddered as he inhaled.

“I love you,” his voice raw and honest, her smile was more radiant than any holy light.

“Come on, big guy. It’s time,” she said, leaving his arms but holding his hand firmly in hers.

“Where are we going?” Rey tugged gently on his arm.

“We’re going home,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only the epilogue to go!
> 
> I know some of you thought I was bringing Rey back to life but...how? Realistically (In a ghost story, ha!) that would have traumatized people like Finn who put her to rest!


	8. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heaven is weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the final entry of my little ghost story. 
> 
> Big thank you to everyone who read, commented, shared, went mental over and generally enthused. I've loved writing this, it's quickly become my favorite out of my works.
> 
> I'm still going to be writing but I will be slowing down somewhat. I'm going to start updating Diamond Dogs once again and I have another WIP in the making (Going back to my ABO roots!) but they will be a slower update than this was. My exams are starting very soon and sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it, real life must come first. 
> 
> I'm PD3 and you're all lovely humans <3

[](https://imgur.com/2qyiI09)

Heaven is weird.

When people talk about heaven it immediately conjures images of fluffy white clouds and blue skies, of people sporting large feathery wings and a guy with a clipboard in a robe standing next to a set of golden gates deciding who gets into the VIP section and who is headed to the basement.

Heaven is nothing like that at all, Ben discovers.

The beach house is beautiful, simple and elegant in its design, decorated in calm muted shades of blues, lilacs, and greys. The double backdoors lead out onto decking which in turn leads directly to the most beautiful beach he’s ever seen. The sand is soft and when he stands with her outside for the first time he can smell the salt as the waves crash, the echo of gulls in the distance and he feels like he’s finally come home.

So many assume that death is the end, that a person is born, and they live only one life but now Ben knows better. Heaven is just another life. They will grow together, age together, have a family, until their souls pass on to the next cycle. It is never-ending, and he knows wherever they go, they go together.

_Nobody is ever really gone…_

Because what kind of life did he have anyway? He had squandered his time with little intention of changing his ways. Even when he picked himself up after Rey’s passing, he didn’t live so much as merely exist, waiting for the invisible clock to strike that metaphorical midnight. Dying young is not a sadness to him.

Death is not the end for Ben Solo. Death is only the beginning.

The afterlife shifts and contorts to suit their needs. They are not alone. They see others in the quaint seaside town of Rey’s dreams, people who have also dreamt of the same nirvana. Wanting for nothing, their pantry is always full, their days filled with laughter and serenity.

Rey’s heaven is her house by the waves with someone who loves her. Ben’s heaven is wherever she goes.

“But what if I get bored? Don’t people get bored?” he asks, Rey laughing until her sides hurt.

“It’s _heaven_ , Ben, you’re not allowed to be bored!”

To satisfy his interest, Rey shows him how to peak on the living, his face turning a peculiar shade of pink when she tells him that, yes, she did watch over him the whole time.

Hand in hand, they watch his funeral.

“This is weird,” Ben mutters in awe, staring intently at the small gathering of people in black. Mainly co-workers, a handful of ex-college friends. His heart only aches when he spies Gwen, dabbing at her watery eyes. He wishes he could tell her he was fine, better than fine.

He wishes he could tell her he was happy

“Was watching your funeral weird?” He asks, Rey smirking at him with a twinkle in her eye as she gazes up from her place wrapped around his arm.

“Well I didn’t get to see my funeral,” she smiles, “I was too busy chasing you around my bedroom…”

“Your bedroom? I think you’ll find I had bought the place, legally it was mine!” He grins. Rey shoots him a skeptical look.

“Was it ever _really_ yours?”

“No, I suppose not,” he concedes gently, bending down to offer her a kiss that she gladly accepts.

It’s last time they ever look at the land of the living.

00000

He’s lying in bed, the sky marbled with clouds over glorious shades of pinks and oranges. His eyes closed, lying on his back, his half-awake state is vaguely aware of a weight straddling his body. There’s a nose nuzzling his cheek, huffs of air tickling his skin, fingers tracing along his collarbone but he remains perfectly still.

“Good morning,” There’s a smile in her voice, her lips peppering his face with delicate kisses.

Who needs an alarm clock in heaven anyway?

His eyes stay closed, the only hint that he’s conscious the small smile pulling the corners of his full lips upward.

“I know you’re awake,” she teases a whisper in his ear, her teeth gently grazing the soft skin of his lobe sending a shock direct south of his waistband, “Come on big guy, open those eyes for me,”

Her shriek of laughter fills the room as he grabs her suddenly, arms flying around her waist spinning her to her back and pinning her to the bed, lips attacking hers with passionate glee. She smiles into his kiss, her hands in his hair as he kicks the sheets out of their way. Naked below him, his stiff cock grinds against the flat of her stomach, her body arching in response to his touch.

“You are the most incorrigible little tease; do you know that?” his voice rumbles in her ear, his tongue running along her jaw, nipping at the skin on her neck, traveling down her body.

“Only because you’re so easy,” she pants, yelping as his teeth find her nipple. There’s a heat building, embers being fanned by his touch as he trails hot kisses down her body, pausing to suckle his mark against her hip.

Smirking roguishly, he pushes her knees apart, gazing at her as if she’s a meal he’s ready to devour. Biting her lip, her breathing labored already, he’s barely even begun, and he relishes the opportunity to repay her playful torture. Moving with deliberate slowness, he begins at her inner knee, a featherlight kiss against her skin as he carefully picks his path.

“Ben, please…” she whimpers. Whatever she starts, Rey knows he can finish, having constantly proven he has far more patience on several occasions. Still smirking, he glances up at her innocently.

“What’s that sweetheart?” he enquires innocently. He chuckles hearing her growl under her breath.

“I swear to God!”

“Don’t say that,” he quips, “Don’t want him to come down here,”

_Not that I’ve ever seen him…if he even exists…_

So close. He holds her thighs parted to flick the tip of his tongue over her sensitive clit, her cunt clenching as her hips bucked violently in response to the shock of the sudden contact. He repeats the motion, her body tightening and writhing with every touch until she almost begs him to stop.

Almost.

Mercifully he puts her out of her misery, drawing his tongue through her folds to find her nerve center, his lips latching on as he sucks, alternating between intense pressure and a dizzying pattern that makes her eyes roll back.

“You taste so good baby,” he purrs, her only response as a strangled moan as he sinks two fingers into her waiting heat, “You going to cum for me?”

Feeling her clench around him, he groans, humming a vibration that causes her to cry out in pleasure, her back arching from the bed. Freeing one of her legs, he presses a large hand on her abdomen to keep her in place.

Her hands fist tightly in his hair, her hips grinding against his face as she cums, babbling her praise. Wiping his face, he grins up at her spent body still breathing heavily in the middle of their king size bed. Crawling up her body, he’s caught off guard when her legs wrap around his waist and he finds himself flipped to the mattress, Rey straddling his hips.

She wastes no time, kissing him fiercely as she grinds her soaked lips against his cock, shifting the angle just so until she’s sinking herself down, taking him to the hilt, both moaning in tandem as he stretches her.

“Fuck, sweetheart, you are so beautiful,” he awes, gripping her hips as she rides him, her breasts bouncing with every pass. She’s lost in chasing her bliss, he’s lost in her and he can scarcely believe _this_ is his eternity.

She’s pulsing around him, sensitive and tight, his hand tracing up her hip to graze his thumb in uncoordinated circles against her clit, tipping her over the edge as she cums, a rush of wetness coating his cock while her body trembles. Collapsing on top of him, he’s more than happy to take control, pounding his hips as he fucks up into her with everything he has.

Her lips at his ear, he’s grunting with the effort, her hitched moans driving him forward.

“I love you,”

She whispers in his ear and he comes undone, pushing up with one final, solid thrust, spilling his seed. He can feel her heart beating just as wildly against his, their breathing erratic, basking in the glow of their morning activities. He holds her tightly, their skin sheened in sweat, listening to the waves wash on the shore from their bedroom window.

00000

The day is perfect.

Of course, it is, they’re in heaven and to begin with, it’s something he has to remind himself of often. Rey smiles at him indulgently every time he remarks that his favorite food is already in the fridge or that something he loves is already on TV.

“Ben, baby, you’re going to have to get used to being spoiled here. That’s kind of the point of the place,” she grins, grabbing the remote from him and laying her head on his lap.

They make friends, they even have family. The reunion between Ben and his parents had been emotional, Rey content to stand back and give them their moment until she was physically pulled into the three-way hug. Han and Leia aren't always around, their heaven different from Ben and Rey’s, but they're never more than a fleeting thought away, appearing at the beach with happy, affectionate smiles.

He writes. She paints. He plays the piano. She listens. Theirs is a life they always wanted but the living world could never afford them.

They watch House Hunters.

The sun is setting as he stands on the beach, his bare toes curling in the cooling sand, gazing out to the horizon. He doesn’t turn as he feels her hands snake around his waist, her face pressed into his back.

“What are you up to?” she asks, her voice muffled by his body.

“Just thinking,”

“That’s dangerous,” She quips, letting go and walking round to look at his face, “What are you thinking about?”

“This place. It’s almost perfect,” Rey frowns. He might be the only person to ever call heaven in any capacity _almost_ perfect. He digs his hand into his pocket, the diamond ring sparkling in the fading sunlight.

“I’m not really sure how marriage works here…but I was thinking about it and this appeared in my nightstand, so I’m guessing that’s a sign that the big guy is all for it,” he smiles, Rey staring at him with naked shock on her face.

“Rey, can I keep you?”

He expects tears, a softly spoken delicate _yes_ but that isn’t his Rey. She screams her answer with laughter, throwing herself at his body knocking them both to the sand, kissing him soundly before he slips the ring on her finger. It fits perfectly. Of course, it does.

“For eternity, big guy,”

The sun sinks below the horizon, he holds her close. She snuggles to the warmth of his body as they watch the waves, her head tucked safely under his chin.

And they are home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my 10th Reylo story since January! Can you believe?!
> 
> If you'd like to show your appreciation for the time I put into this stuff I do have a ko-fi account that you can find on my Tumblr, however, I'm also a massive slut for Fanart which I print and put on my writing space wall like a proud Mama!

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on Tumblr:
> 
> https://itspixelbitch.tumblr.com/ - Main Blog  
> https://polkadotdotdotreylo.tumblr.com/ - Reylo and Writing.
> 
> and I'm not on Twitter at @PD3Reylo 
> 
> Come and say hi!


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